


Spanning the Stars

by CorsetJinx



Category: Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-09 12:38:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6907567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorsetJinx/pseuds/CorsetJinx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A request for help comes when everyone else is away and Kairi steps up to volunteer for her first adventure. First official one, anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Speaking Up

The room grew quiet in the wake of the emissary’s speech, enough that Kairi thought she might be able to hear the ticking of a clock in the next room. Since coming to Yen Sid’s tower she’d learned that it was possible that she was, in fact, hearing a clock in the next room – or it was coming from one of the numerous portals within his home that opened up into other dimensions. From her spot behind Yen Sid’s desk she took the chance to look over the visitors again, struck once more by how alike they looked.

Identical, actually. At least when it came to their faces and build. The one on the left wore some kind of uniform, its color and their hair matching shades of red, whereas the person standing on the right wore the same in blue. His or her hair was the same color as their uniform, and both sets of clothing had silver piping that glinted occasionally in the low light. A single horn emerged from beneath the twins' hair on one side of their heads, opposite from the other's, a little ways back from their ear. From where she stood, Kairi thought they had to be at least half as long as her forearm.

Both of them stood at attention, arms at their sides as they looked towards the sorcerer pondering their request. She thought the twins looked worried, for all they were even better than Riku at keeping what they felt from their faces the air surrounding them was tense.

They’d looked at her, once, before turning their attention to Yen Sid. She’d thought their eyes were golden – initially it had sent a chill of fear down her spine because of the implications, but neither of them seemed particularly threatening. And, she thought, why would they ask for Yen Sid’s help if they were allied with Xehanort?

The tension in the room seemed to abate somewhat as Yen Sid shifted in his massive chair, Kairi finding herself standing a little straighter when she sensed his movement. From the angle she was at, she could see one of the sleeves of his robe spilling over the arm of his chair – the vibrant cloth not quite in danger of touching the floor, but close. She could imagine him steepling his long fingers as he gathered his thoughts, familiar enough with some of his gestures and body language after being under his tutelage for the past six months that the vision was solid enough in her mind to include the deep set frown he usually wore.

Under different circumstances it might have made her hide a laugh behind her hand.

“You understand, I hope, that what aid I may offer will be limited at best. The more experienced students I currently have are abroad with other matters, and I do not often leave my home since the Darkness arrived.” Yen Sid’s voice carried a touch of wariness that Kairi thought unusual, making her shift a little closer to better see his expression. Her imagined look for him was not far off from what she could glimpse without leaning around, but she hadn’t thought he would look so grave.

“We understand.” The twin in blue stated, a slight accent to their voice. It was different from King Mickey’s, or Donald and Goofy’s. The red twin picked up where the other had left off, inclining their head in time with their twin, “But any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Our master does not take the invasion of his home lightly, yet this is not an enemy we are familiar with.”

Kairi saw Yen Sid nod ever so slightly at that and the words she'd been thinking come up and out of her mouth before she can try and reason with herself. “I’ll go.”

For the second time Yen Sid’s study goes silent. She can’t even hear the ticking of the maybe-clock anymore.

She feels three pairs of eyes settle on her and squares her shoulders beneath the scrutiny, meeting Yen Sid’s stare in particular. His lips are pursed and she knows the look of disapproval he’s sending her way very well.

“I would not ask a new initiate to the Keyblade to undertake this mission, Kairi.” Her mentor’s words are carefully measured, warning filling every syllable. “The realm which our guests call their home is very different from any place you and your friends are familiar with.”

“I understand that sir.” Kairi took in a slow breath before continuing, back straight and expression fierce as well as sincere. “But I _am_ a Keybearer. _And_ a Guardian of the Light, you said so yourself. Sora and Riku aren’t here and neither is Lea.” She could see the sorcerer’s disapproval growing with every point she made, but he hadn’t stopped her yet and she nodded towards the twins watching them to make her final one. “They asked for help sir, and I’m right here. You wouldn’t have to leave the Tower.” She didn’t say _please_ , although it lingered on the tip of her tongue.

It probably showed on her face too, just how eager she was.

What was the point of learning to wield the Keyblade if she never took the chance to help someone when they needed it? She wouldn’t grow nearly as much if she stayed here, training in the Tower. He had to know that.

After all, he was the one who trained King Mickey how to use the Keyblade – and filled books upon books with all his apprentice’s misadventures.

“She would not be alone.” One of the twins spoke – the one in red, she thought, turning her head too late to actually see. Both the visitors had contemplative looks on their faces, the twin wearing blue speaking next. Or continuing their sibling's train of thought.

“It would not be an immediate mission, you understand. We were sent away by our master’s wishes rather than our own, but even we do not possess the skill to fight our way back unaccompanied. There are two more we would ask for aid before undertaking the actual journey.”

The red twin nodded, otherwise as still as a statue. “It would also serve the purpose of continuing the young lady’s training, if you find such to be satisfactory.”

Kairi wondered where they came from and what they did to have and be able to maintain such perfect posture, just as another part of her wanted to laugh at being addressed as ‘young lady’.

Yen Sid took his time looking at each of them, her in particular it seemed. The twins showed no sign of being daunted by the sorcerer’s stare. Kairi held her ground, feeling once more the surge of emotion that came with the thought of being set aside – of waiting.

Finally, her mentor sighed. The sound was light and the exhalation stirred a few strands of his beard, his face set in resigned seriousness. When he opened his eyes again he sat up straight, weathered hands coming to rest on the desk before him.

“Kairi.” She stood to attention at the sound of her name, so gravely spoken. Excitement surged within her chest but she tried to push it down.

“Master?”

“In the next room you will find three good fairies I’m sure Sora has told you about. They will assist you in preparing for the journey. For what they cannot provide, see the moogle that has set up its wares.”

Fighting to keep a smile off her face, Kairi bowed low from the waist and did her best not to run into the room the sorcerer had indicated. As the door closed behind her she could hear the murmur of voices, but once the door swung back into place all noise from Yen Sid’s study was completely stifled. She wondered if it was magic, or if the walls were just that thick.

It was probably magic.

Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather looked pleased to see her when she stepped into their workspace. When she explained what it was that had brought her there she saw conflicting looks pass over their faces. Merryweather looked almost indignant, which matched Flora’s expression of worry in an odd sort of way. Fauna was the one to step forward, gently taking Kairi by the arm and leading her away from the covered mirrors that ringed the room.

“Well dear, that was very brave of you to volunteer yourself like that.” The green-clad fairy hummed, patting Kairi’s hand in an absent, motherly fashion.

“You mean foolish!” Merryweather disagreed, her arms tightly folded over her chest as she reluctantly came to stand by Flora. “What were you thinking child, just saying you’ll go out of the blue?!” The stout fairy leaned forward, boring into her with narrowed eyes.

Kairi felt her temper start to rise to meet the fairy’s own, pushing it down as she stood where Flora indicated with a flick of her wand. “I’m a Keybearer just the same as the boys – I shouldn’t be left behind just because I may not be able to do everything they can.” Smoothing her hands over the skirt of her dress for lack of anything to do, she frowned. “I need to get better if I’m going to fight beside them. This is a chance to do that.”

“We still worry, dear.” Flora’s matronly voice filled in where Fauna quietly fretted and Merryweather scowled. The tallest fairy hesitated, thin fingers idly running over her wand. “There are… dangers in the worlds that no one should have to face. Especially ones as young as you and your friends.”

“I know.” Kairi admitted, pushing her shoulders back as she raised her head. “But I’m not changing my mind.”

A not-so-quiet ‘harrumph’ came from the shortest of the trio, and the two taller women exchanged glances.

“Well then,” Flora worked up a smile, wings fluttering on her back. “Let us see what we can do for you, Kairi.”

Nodding, Kairi did her best to stand still as the trio of fairies moved around her. Occasionally one of them would hum softly or ask her to lift an arm. Merryweather’s brows knit in concentration as she examined something – either part of her dress or Kairi herself, she wasn’t sure. Eventually the three stepped back, talking amongst themselves in hushed whispers and gesturing to something that made sense only to them.

Kairi eyed the covered mirrors around the room to keep from fidgeting.

She remembered Sora and Riku saying that the mirrors didn’t just reflect the person who looked into them – whatever magic was held within the glass showed a specific part of a person’s heart. One of them showed strength, another magic, and still another would display a different trait. There was also one, she knew, that would show a person completely overcome by darkness if they looked into it.

Which one it was, she didn’t know.

“Alright now dear,” Flora’s voice cut through her thoughts and Kairi turned to look at her, matching expressions of readiness on the other fairies’ faces. “Close your eyes and concentrate – the magic will do the rest.”

She closed her eyes, briefly wondering what she was supposed to concentrate on when she felt the first touch of magic on her skin.

It felt warm, like the sunlight from the Islands. Kairi unconsciously leaned into it, feeling herself relax as more magic joined the first wave. It didn’t tingle like healing spells did – didn’t try and knit over skin that wasn’t wounded. And it didn’t burn at all, unlike her few experiences with black magic.

She felt it try and reach inward, seeking something from her that the surface couldn't provide and without thinking opened her heart to it like she would to summon her Keyblade.

Light surged up and out, burning back the darkness behind her eyelids and she heard a gasp from one of the fairy trio ahead. Warmth grew to a wave of heat that she felt all over, brightness and a feeling of raw power rising in her chest until it felt like it hurt.

The heaviness in her hand let her know that she’d summoned her Keyblade, either by accident or an unconscious act of will. Finally, the heat vanished and she opened her eyes – blinking a couple of times in bemusement at the sparks of energy still dancing around. The fairies were watching her, curious and shocked all in one. Kairi looked down at herself, distantly feeling her mouth open in surprise at what she saw.

Her dress was gone, replaced by a black undershirt and matching shorts that reached her knees. Over the top was another shirt, white, and covering it was a red and pink jacket, the sleeves ending just above her elbows, black undershirt peeking out. The hood of the jacket rustled as she looked further down, seeing the dark blue shorts that stopped just above her knees over the pair underneath. Her shoes had changed as well – no longer meant for running around on the Islands or in Twilight Town. They fit closer to her feet, blue and white, sturdier looking than her old ones.

She caught a glimpse of metal and turned her head to look, the weight on her shoulders finally making sense as she spied the pauldrons attached. When she moved her shoulders they adjusted with her, not too heavy and not too light. At her hips she noticed a belt and two pouches, a comfortable weight on either side.

Reaching back, Kairi felt along her hair until her fingers encountered the unfamiliar tie holding it back. It didn’t feel like the elastic bands she sometimes used back home, but it held her hair out of her face just as well. She lowered her hand slowly, looking at the three fairies who were slowly beginning to smile.

Well, all of them except Merryweather.

“It doesn’t look fit for a Princess.” The blue dressed fairy huffed, sending a look towards Flora as though the tallest woman was somehow to blame.

Flora ignored it with a soft ‘tut’, already clapping her hands gently.

“I can’t go around in what’s considered ‘fit for a princess’ and still fight.” Kairi reminded the dark haired fairy, smiling as she rested her free hand on her hip. Destiny’s Embrace still waited in her dominant hand, blade catching the light occasionally.

“I think it looks marvelous.” Fauna crooned, sighing dreamily. Her face brightened as a thought struck her and suddenly she was ushering Kairi towards a vanity. “Oh but you must look for yourself! It’d be such a shame if you didn’t.”

Flora nodded eagerly, joining with the light pushing until Kairi had no choice but to move towards the only uncovered mirror in the room. Merryweather followed behind, possibly rolling her eyes.

Looking up and into the reflective glass, Kairi felt her smile return.

She looked… a little more mature, especially with her hair tied back.

The boys were going to be so jealous, once they got over themselves.

“Thank you.” She said, glancing at the three ladies’ reflections. They smiled back, even Merryweather to some extent, and it was Flora who lightly tugged her away from the mirror. She followed, dismissing her Keyblade.

“Now dear, keep in mind that these clothes have special gifts.” A soft pat on the back briefly made her face warm up, but Kairi nodded for Flora to keep going. “These will draw in energy around you to replenish your own once you’ve used it up, but they will not turn aside a sword or a Heartless’ claws.”

Fauna touched her other shoulder, making her turn her head to meet the gentle fairy’s soft gaze. “But it will give you some protection from magic that’s meant to cause harm – the least we can do, dear. Just know that it won’t take care of everything.”

“If you get backed into a corner you’ll be able to take care of yourself I suppose.” Merryweather hummed, tugging down a corner of Kairi’s jacket that had ridden up a little. She smoothed it over with a light pat, as though to soften the action and her words.

“It means a lot, from the three of you. Thank you, again.” Turning, Kairi wrapped her arms around each fairy in turn – surprising them with the embrace and feeling herself smile a little wider as each of the ladies processed the sentiment.

They separated carefully from the tangle of arms they had suddenly become and Kairi accepted a few more words of caution from the fairy trio before bidding them farewell. Yen Sid was not in his study as she left the good fairies’ workshop and neither were the twins. The stairs were silent as she took them, free to finally let out some of her joy in a loud whoop as she bounded down the stone steps.

She passed quickly through the Moon and Star Chambers, not pausing to look at the glowing lights like she would have normally. As she went through the last portal, the final set of stairs came into view. The Tower’s walls remained solid this time, the star and moon mosaic on the floor stayed still when she walked over it to the hologram of the moogle. It flapped its wings to hover at eye-level, bowing its head in greeting once she was close enough for them to speak. She obliged it by listening to the newest information on synthesis materials, glancing at the projection of the stones with some minor curiosity.

If her clothes came with the same deep pockets as Sora’s did, she would be able to carry more. It would make travelling easier, for sure.

Digging in to some of the munny she had earned from odd jobs around Twilight Town, she stocked up on what seemed the most necessary. Potions glowed from within their glass bottles, a gentle green not unlike a Cure spell. The Ethers were more expensive, but she bought some anyway to be on the safe side.

Armor, what Sora and Riku hadn’t pressed on her once she began her Keyblade training, turned out to be the reason she guiltily tapped into some of the munny the boys had left behind – Sora claiming he’d finally filled his pockets to brimming, Riku telling her to use it for emergencies.

Lea had promised they’d take a day around Radiant Garden on one of their off days and splurge a little, once they all got back from their missions.

There was still quite a bit of munny left once she’d made her purchase, but she made the silent promise to earn it all back once she’d returned all the same. The moogle bowed its head when she wrapped everything up, tugging gently on the accessory now encircling her wrist. It wasn’t heavy, far from it actually. It looked normal enough to pass for a regular bracelet. The enchantments within it, however, were making her mind buzz.

Riku had said she would get used to it after a while. But he’d been speaking in the future tense, not expecting her to up and volunteer on a mission that would be on an unfamiliar world.

Putting it from her mind, Kairi turned towards the door and carefully pulled it open – relieved to see Yen Sid standing outside. In the psychedelic cloudscape his Tower hovered in, his blue robes stood out for their stable vibrancy. He turned towards her when she stepped out, closing the distance between them at a respectable pace.  
If he thought anything of the clothes the fairies had made, it didn’t show. Rather, he folded his arms behind his back and stood to his full height. It made her stand straighter as well, and she looked up when he started to speak.

“The ones you will be accompanying have a vessel of their own – otherwise I would have delayed this excursion to properly teach you the mechanics of a gummi ship.” He paused for a moment and Kairi resisted the urge to shift her weight. When he continued, it was in a softer tone, more like how he’d welcomed her to the Tower. “This is not a place I would willingly send you otherwise. Keep in mind that the rules of the world you will encounter are vastly different from the ones you know. If the Heartless have spread that far, you must take care not to endanger yourself.”

“I promise.” She said, meeting his heavy gaze.

The old sorcerer nodded, just once, the stars embroidered on his hat catching the cotton candy light around them. A breeze that had not been there before picked up, drawing her attention to the end of the rocky outcrop where Yen Sid made his home.

Instead of a luminous portal and train tracks made of light, a massive shape rose up from beneath the clouds. The dark metal of its body gleamed in the orange-gold light, what Kairi assumed where viewing ports shone red as the cloudscape’s luminescence touched them. It was much, much larger than any gummi ship she had ever seen – it seemed entirely possible that this ship alone, if it really _was_ a ship, could dwarf even the Play Island back home with its sheer size.

The breeze kicked up to a brisk wind as the vessel approached, docking carefully just at the edge of Yen Sid’s island of stone. Kairi found herself staring at it, awestruck and a little afraid – whatever world had managed to produce such a ship had to be a far stretch from her own, both the Destiny Islands and Radiant Garden.

“That’s…?” She couldn’t bring herself to finish, eyes running over the wide body of the ship.

“It is called the Lunar Whale. It will see you safely to your destination, as well as bring you back.” Yen Sid spoke just loud enough to be heard, for which she was thankful. Kairi nearly jumped when one of his hands settled gently on her shoulder, tearing her gaze from the ship whose appearance bore no resemblance to any whale she could think of.

His face had settled into a look of reassurance, kind even though he held himself as tall as his Tower. She wondered how shaken she must look to have earned that sort of acknowledgement from the sorcerer.

“Do not be afraid, Kairi. This is but the first step.” A fond crinkle spread around Yen Sid’s eyes and she found some of her tension fading as she slowly nodded back. He gave her shoulder a last, gentle pat and released her. His hands disappeared into the sleeves of his robe and his face once more became unreadable as granite.  
“Trust in your companions. If you take care of one another, you shall not be led astray.”

Turning to face him, Kairi bowed, felt her hair try and give in to gravity as it slipped further over her shoulder. “Thank you.”

When she straightened up, he was heading back towards his Tower and a part of the Whale was unfolding like some sort of walkway. She thought she could see the twins waiting inside, partially hidden by shadow and wisps of cotton candy clouds. Her heart beat faster the closer she got, but she didn’t stop walking.


	2. Lining Up the Pieces

The Lunar Whale welcomed her aboard with a rush of cool air, the portal closing behind her once she’d cleared the ramp. When she turned her head to watch it all she could see was a nearly seamless expanse of metal. She found that a little eerie, if she wanted to be honest. Ahead of her was a short set of stairs leading up to what Kairi assumed was the bridge or cockpit, on either side as far as she could see were hallways full of machinery that thrums with a quiet pulse.

It reminded her of the stories Sora had told her of Radiant Garden in a way - of a castle full of technology that seemed almost alive.

Resisting the urge to rub her arms she takes the stairs. She's unsurprised to see another area of unfamiliar technology spread out before her but relieved to spot the twins once she makes it to the top. They’re standing side by side at what seems to be the front of the ship - a collection of large, pale crystals hovering before them without any visible means of support. A sort of control panel hovered towards the lower center of the collection - seeming to hold the twins' attention the most. Kairi looked around, spotting what looked like a corridor stretching off to some other space further down the ship, past a raised dais of some kind that had a giant version of the crystals suspended over a circular kind of opening with light shining from beneath it for whatever purpose.

It’s so different from the ships she’s used to on the Islands and the few experiences she’s had with the gummi ship that making heads or tails of this vessel is confusing at best.

Turning back towards the twins, Kairi was surprised to see the one wearing blue looking at her. In the artificial light shed by the flickering monitors and other systems of the ship they seem even paler than they did in Yen Sid’s Tower. He or she waves a hand, beckoning her closer. Their twin remains focused on something she can’t see – possibly the crystal or something else.

Her new shoes make quiet scuffing noises over the metallic floor and she tries to lift her feet a little higher so as not to leave marks. She stops just outside of the twin’s personal space, unsure what she’s been brought over for. This close she can see that the twin wearing blue’s eyes are indeed golden, but it’s a different shade from the one Xemnas and others possessed. Brighter, more like newly minted munny.

She’s not sure if it was the light that made their pupil slitted similarly to a cat’s or not.

“We thought you might wish to see the view.” The blue twin says, a faint twitch at their mouth.

The twin in red stood aside just a bit, motioning for her to move closer to the oddly box-shaped controls. Kairi slowly obliged, lifting her gaze to the mechanism – surprised to see that it glows along thin lines with pale green light that pulses in time with the others on the ship. The crystals suspended around it glow as well, with a light that seems to come from within rather than from the electric ones of the ship. They do more than glow, she realizes now, finally able to place the sense of magic that had been lingering at the edge of her awareness since boarding the vessel.

It’s the crystals, the one that's taller than her or her companions in particular. They thrum with magic, a different sort than what Yen Sid or Sora and Riku used. Or even Merlin. It feels _alive_ , somehow. Like a heart, she thinks distantly.

Either because of that thought and the association or perhaps because she’d unconsciously reached towards the controls and opened that part of herself that usually allowed her to use her Keyblade, the slender lines of green zig-zagging across grey metal and pale facets of the crystals around her brighten until they're all shining rather than simply glowing. Kairi isn’t sure if there’s a name for the feeling she gets from it – a greeting, an acknowledgement she doesn’t quite understand, and a _pull_.

Suddenly, the metallic surface before her shimmers away and an image of the cloudscape and the sky replace it. It happens so unexpectedly that she can’t help but gasp, not registering the surprised murmurs from the twins on either side of her.

It was _beautiful_.

All around she can see the idyllic roll of the cotton candy wisps of clouds - orange and yellow and the odd refraction of other colors, and above that is the seemingly infinite night sky, stars that look brighter than when she’s peered at them from her window in the Tower or the protective shield of the gummi ship. Whatever magic or technology is letting her see this, it’s almost like she’s standing on the edge of the island at looking at it herself.

A soft, throaty sound jogs her back to the present and Kairi pulls her hand away from the controls and brilliant crystals. Surprisingly, to her, the image of the outside doesn’t fade or dim at all. When she turns to look at the twins, once more side by side, she can see the identical amused expressions they wear.

“Sorry.” Kairi says it with a hint of bashfulness, now aware that staring as she had been probably wasn’t something a Keybearer was supposed to do.

“Don’t be.” The red twin hums, golden eyes alight with something. A silent sort of laughter, she thinks, but it doesn’t feel like she’s being mocked.

His or her twin nods, stepping around her to reach towards the box. They have long nails, Kairi realizes now that she’s looking. Claws almost, the nail beds a darker color than she’s ever seen on anybody else.

“We weren’t expecting it to react to you so strongly.” They say, sending her a glance that reminds her not to stare. When she meets their eye, their lips quirk. It fades though, as they turn back and focus on the systems before them. “Usually only a relative of the man who made this ship can get the crystal to work.”

“A relative?” She asks curiously, excited to learn something about where they come from. She stands back as the other twin checks something on a nearby monitor, the careful tapping coming from the thin screen leading her to believe they’re choosing coordinates. The blue twin also has claws, she notices, turning her eyes back to their face as she waits for them to respond.

As one they nod, though it is the blue dressed one that speaks.

“From what I understand, KluYa calibrated this ship to only respond to one of his family. Or his race at large, but I’m not sure. It could be either, honestly.” They finish off with a shrug, looking up as the image projected before them starts to change.

Kairi is moderately sure the increase in the thrumming beneath her feet is the ship’s engine and that’s when it hits her that they’re taking off. They’re really leaving and she feels her excitement pick up again.

“Is he someone from your world?” She doesn’t want to just ask who this Kluya person is, mostly because it seems a little rude. She doesn’t miss the faint glance the twins exchange, though what’s behind it she can’t be entirely sure.

“He was, in a manner.” The red twin says quietly, slowly lowering their hand from the controls. The view in front of them is now entirely that of the sky, some of the little sparks she recognizes as stars are getting larger as they approach – only to pass them by.

She wonders how fast the ship must be going, because other than the initial shift into motion the faint vibrations she can feel from beneath her feet haven’t changed. It’s a lot smoother than riding in the gummi ship – the fact that they don’t seem to need to sit down in order to fly is a welcome, and unexpected, surprise.

“You don’t have to apologize.” The twin on her left, dressed in blue, turns to her as they speak. Their expression is pleasant, if blank, and their voice is soft as they continue. “It happened long ago and you are not of our world.”

“He might have enjoyed knowing you would be on his ship,” The red twin cuts in before Kairi can say anything, to apologize or something else. They sound contemplative as they look at her with that faint smile again. “KluYa was the sort of person who enjoyed teaching others. Perhaps as much as you enjoy flying.”

They were teasing her, she realized. A second later she covered her mouth with one hand to stifle a giggle, remembering how awestruck she’d been a few moments ago.

“Where are we going?” She asked once she could be sure that the laughter she’d suppressed had finally passed. It seemed silly now that she hadn’t asked before, or asked that they elaborate on the location of their master when she’d volunteered to help.

They took the change of topic well, the twin on her left answering.

“To the Red Moon. It used to circle the Blue Planet in our world, but we have since moved on.” They quirked a brow at her look of surprise, head tilting to the side as she shifted her weight.

“A moon? Like what orbits a planet?” It felt silly to ask, but even Yen Sid and Merlin had never made any mention of moons that could be whole worlds of their own – or move from a planet of their own will.

The red twin made a sound like a hum low in their throat, the noise deeper than she would have expected. “Our home is a manufactured Moon, capable of visiting other planets if directed to do so.” They continued on, heedless of her growing surprise. “Once, the people residing there had a planet of their own. It fell into decay and so they constructed the Red Moon to search for a new place to live. We,” they gestured to themselves and their twin, “joined them, more or less. Our master decided to accompany them, and he made our own abode some distance from theirs. The one currently directing the Moon had thought that the Blue Planet could be the start of a new beginning for his people. For better or worse, it remains unlikely.”

They each had similar expressions on their faces, like when she’d asked about the person named Kluya.

Stars continued to drift by, now joined by bright nebulae near and far-off. She could remember the same sort of place when she’d joined her friends on the gummi ship, but unlike then, they made no stop in-between. There were no Heartless ships to watch out for it seemed, which was a pleasant change.

“What about you and your master?” Kairi kept her voice quiet, fingers itching to do something – practice her magic, work on her next Thalassa shell charm, anything.

“We are not human, despite how we look. Our species,” the blue twin said a word that she couldn’t recognize. To her, it hardly sounded like a word at all. “Would not be welcome on the Blue Planet.”

“Just as well,” their sibling continued, shrugging. “We serve our master and guard the path to him. This is the first time we have been separated. Neither of us like it.” They added, a sour note entering their tone.

Folding her hands behind her back, Kairi nodded. It took a second to work up her courage, ironic considering how easily it seemed to come when she decided to be brash.

“What are your names?” She watched as both of them looked at her, a lack of comprehension on both their faces. It made her lips twitch upwards before she pushed it down, twining her fingers behind her back. “You never said at the Tower. Neither did Master Yen Sid.”

Two pairs of golden eyes fixed on each other, both of them blinking as though they’d completely forgotten. It was funny to watch as confusion turned into sheepishness on their almost identical faces and Kairi got the impression that they weren’t used to being asked such a question – or having to answer it, possibly.

“Our names were decided by our master when he made us.” The red twin hesitated, clearly looking at their sibling for guidance. “It might not be possible for you to pronounce them, if you wish me to be honest.”

“That’s okay,” she said, a smile spreading over her face. “I’d just like to have something to address you guys by.”

They shared another look for several moments, before the blue twin nodded.

“Behemoth.” They answered, almost in tandem.

Kairi frowned, the recollection of a Heartless by that description instantly coming to mind. They saw the look on her face, both of them cracking a thin smile.

“It is a species of monster, yes.” The twin in blue answered her unspoken question, shifting their weight as they settled one hand at their hip. Against the soft blue of their tunic the darkness of their nails, claws or not, was all the more apparent.

“But it is what we are, even if we look mostly human.” The red twin finished, turning their attention back to the controls. To her, they added, “It is a long story, more or less. Our master saw fit to have us appear human unless we needed to fight for him or ourselves. It does not change our species or us, in the end.”

Slowly, Kairi felt herself nod. It... made sense, in a way. As far as she understood it, for the moment.

Maybe it was a bit like how she and Namine could be called different things, different people, but they were still one in the end.

Kairi wished she could ask her, but Namine had been silent since they had rejoined.

“So that’s what you want me to call the two of you? Just Behemoth?” Lifting her eyes to the twins once more, she caught their tilt of head – one just a second behind the other, as the red Behemoth focused on maneuvering the ship.

“We had a nickname once,” Blue spoke up, returning their twin’s sudden unamused look with a twitch of their lips. “A man who called himself a ninja gave it to us. ‘Trouble’ and ‘Busybody’, I believe it was.”

A scoff, deep and full of disdain came from the other sibling. “Wrong. First he called us ‘bastards’ and then something to the effect of ‘ _mindless slaves_ ’ in his tongue. After our master let his group stay the night to rest and heal, _then_ he called us ‘trouble’ and ‘busybody’.”

They shared another look with each other, equal in their display of annoyance.

To her, the blue sibling said, “If it is too general a moniker, you may address me as Fenrir. He can be Alteci.” They nodded to their sibling, smirking when he shot them a glare.

“That is not my name.” He quipped, narrowing golden eyes.

“Make it easy on the lass.” They shot back.

“ _Kairi_.” She stressed, setting her hands on her hips.

“Kairi.” They said it at the same time, making her laugh in spite of herself. After a moment, they joined in as well and the sound of their laughter mixed together in a way that was surprisingly pleasant.

They seemed alright, these two that come from an artificial moon. A bit stiff and awkward at first, like when Lea had first come to the Tower and stayed away from everyone. Now it was almost like getting used to being around Lea all over again, before they'd become friends – Kairi caught herself before the thought could make her sad, pushing down the rest of her laughter but not wiping the smile from her face.

“How long until we get there, or is there no way to tell?” She asked, lifting her eyes to the expanse of stars the red-clad twin, Alteci, she amended, had been looking at. It had changed – there were no wisps of color that looked like far-flung light from distant stars, and the stars that they passed by looked older if she judged their dimmer color right.

“At this pace? Perhaps the remainder of the hour.” Fenrir answered, turning their gaze towards the monitor they’d been studying before. “It took longer to find your master’s Tower, if you wish to know the truth.”

Kairi wondered again just how fast they were going, when a trip from Twilight Town to Radiant Garden could take three or more hours by gummi ship.

“If you want to see the rest of the ship I will be glad to oblige.” Fenrir turned towards her again, head tilting slightly to the right as they waited for her answer.

Alteci shrugged when she looked at him, setting his eyes back on the view ahead. Navigating, she supposed. Or looking out for any sort of trouble.

“Okay. Let’s go.” She offered Fenrir a smile, letting her hands fall back to her sides.

They nodded once, posture straightening out like wrinkles being smoothed from cloth and headed towards the corridor she’d seen earlier. They didn’t walk terribly fast, and since they were nearly the same height or so as her she had no trouble keeping up.

The ship continued to thrum softly beneath their feet as they left the bridge behind, increasing slightly as they got closer to the engine. The light shifted, becoming more mechanical in nature as the door shut off the radiance of the crystal behind them.

Awareness of it, similar to her awareness of her magic or her Keyblade, hovered at the edge of her mind – seemingly unaffected by distance.


	3. A New World

The tour of the Lunar Whale concluded with a room roughly the same size as the living room and kitchen of her adopted father’s house back on the Islands, its sole occupant a massive mechanical being Fenrir referred to as ‘Mecha Fat Chocobo’. When she’d stared, stunned and quietly asking “ _that’s_ a chocobo?” her companion had laughed – deep and loud and lasting nearly a minute.

“Not a real one. The actual bird hasn’t visited this ship in some time, I believe.” Fenrir’s smile revealed sharp, strong-looking teeth. “But it is to scale, if you’re curious.”

Kairi tried to process that bit of information, that chocobos could grow so large when all the ones she’s seen in books looked only a little taller than a human person. The Mecha Chocobo stared down at them with eyes that glowed with a bright green light, rotund belly occasionally moving as though it were actually breathing. It had greeted them with a raised wing, cheerfully saying “hello” in its booming voice.

She wondered if the actual thing was as loud as its mechanical counterpart.

“What’s it doing here?” She asked, noting that the silvery metal making up the creature’s body closely resembled that of the ship itself. When the lights pulsed, however faintly, the Mecha Fat Chocobo’s seemed to do so as well.

“I hold things for you.” It answered her back, startling her and further amusing her companion. The giant beak clicked with a surprisingly gentle sound as one wing lightly patted its belly. “Come to me whenever you need to make room to carry more things. I have plenty of room.”

It patted its stomach again and Kairi was suddenly glad that the ‘actual bird’ wasn’t here – not if it meant watching it regurgitate material goods. She managed a smile at the mechanical bird, more for politeness’ sake than anything else.

“Thank you. I’ll… I’ll keep that in mind.” The words weren’t as strong as she’d hoped they would be, coming out. Yet the Mecha Chocobo seemed appeased, sitting back in its makeshift nest with a contented sound.

“It may be worth it to look through what it has.” Fenrir mused, clawed hand lifting to tuck strands of blue hair behind their ear. At her slightly alarmed look, they merely shrugged. “This vessel has not been used in some time, whatever was left within its care is unlikely to be reclaimed by the original owners.”

A furrow touched Kairi’s brow as she looked at them, a faint laugh intermingling with her voice when she spoke. “Isn’t that stealing?”

She’d picked things before, back home. Small things like candy bars and pencils or something of the sort. Sometimes it had been on a dare, either from Selphie or Riku. It didn’t seem the same to just go through someone else’s personal belongings and claim it as her own.

Fenrir shrugged as though unaffected by the dilemma. “The decision is yours, though it is unlikely anything truly significant was left behind. Consumables, perhaps. Little more.”

“I think I’ll pass.” She said, both to her companion and to the Mecha Chocobo. It seemed to sadden the bird a little that she wouldn’t be looking through its… stomach, but the expression didn’t last long.

“As you wish.” They nodded to Mecha Chocobo once, the bird returning the gesture in a friendly enough fashion, and turned towards the exit. “That is all there is to see, I am afraid. Unless you would like a tour of the lower deck of the ship?”

Golden eyes turned towards her and Kairi shook her head, falling into step with her companion as they lead the way out of the room. As they passed by the Pod Room, as she’d mentally identified it, Kairi couldn’t help a tiny shiver. The pods themselves were large and cylindrical, not at all flower-shaped, and Fenrir had reassured her that their only purpose was to act as a sleeping chamber. Inside, her energy and magic could be restored, any injuries she had would be healed to the greatest extent possible.

Still, she couldn’t think of them in any sort of positive light. The exact reason why was somewhere in her memories, buried deep and bordering on the faint barrier where Namine’s thoughts and memories resided. She didn’t want to just cross that line, especially when she thought finding the answer might do more harm than good.

Once they were clear of the Pod Room she relaxed, glancing at the larger crystal suspended over a circular pool of light on the raised dais. Its hum hadn’t faded, but it wasn’t obtrusive either. She thought she could see a faint fluctuation of light within it, but with the distance between her and it she couldn’t be entirely sure.

Alteci stood at the controls, barely turning his head to acknowledge their return. Before him was the display of space outside the Lunar Whale – a space steadily retreating around a large moon.

It didn’t look that red, except for a faint tinge at the darker portions she could see of the landscape. Other than that, and its sheer size that slowly began to register the closer they got, it looked no different from the moon she saw every night on the Islands. Kairi stared at the slowly evolving view as Alteci directed the ship with apparent ease, his posture once more bordering a sort of perfection that made her own back ache.

“This is your home?” She asked, curious as darker patches of ground resolved into low mountains or some similar landmass – even darker ones looking like ravines where light didn’t quite reach, or pits from asteroid collisions.

“In a manner.” Alteci responded, one hand outstretched towards the box that controlled the ship’s movement. “The Lunarians have the actual claim to this place. Our master’s abode,” the view projected changed, something bright and crystalline flashing by too quickly for Kairi to catch. “Is over there.”

He nodded towards a broad ring of mountains, almost perfectly circular, with a larger mesa directly in the center. The space between the center and outer ring was large enough that she thought it might be similar to the Villain’s Vale she'd heard of in Radiant Garden.

“Is that where we’re going?” Standing a little straighter herself, Kairi watched the spot with eager eyes. Confusion rose in her chest when Alteci shook his head, moving the ship to face something else.

The flash from before came into sight, becoming more than just a bright spark in a bleak landscape. A towering mass of crystal rose from the gray landscape, stretching out impossibly high. The color was a pure blue all around, like the sky of her island home, facets reflecting what light there was back in all directions.

At the base, what she could see, looked like a more familiar type of structure. A palace of some sort, not nearly as large as the beautiful stone it was attached to – possibly even carved out of.

“The Crystal Palace.” Fenrir murmured, making Kairi jump. They spared her a glance, faint amusement in the golden depths of their eyes. “That is where we shall visit with FuSoYa, the one who directs this moon on its path. If he is willing to help our group then we have a greater chance of succeeding in our mission.”

She noticed Alteci directing the ship away from the Palace itself, heading towards a bulky mesa some distance to its upper left.

“Can we not land by the Palace?” She asked, rubbing her arm with her dominant hand to relieve the itch in her palm. It was tempting to summon her Keyblade, to head out as soon as she could – but she made herself wait.

Alteci shook his head, finally turning from the controls as the ship gently shuddered to a stop. If there was a shut-down sequence, she didn’t see it and Alteci was looking at her rather than anything on the ship itself.

“This vessel can only land on landmasses such as these, or open plains. The ground of the Moon is too fickle to rest on.” The subtle piping lining his uniform shimmered softly in the electrical light as he shrugged. “A reasonable trade for being able to sail over mountains and oceans, or to another planetary system.”

Kairi decided to take his word for it.

“Will I be able to breathe?” She asked, shifting her weight. It was a question she should have asked sooner, Kairi now realized. Especially since this place was a moon rather than a whole planet.

The twins looked to one another as the ship came to a full stop, only the faintest disturbance rippling through its massive shape as it landed.

“There should not be a problem, Kairi.” Fenrir looked at her again, serious but not unkind.

“You aren’t the first visitor from another planet to come here.” Alteci added, folding his arms. “KluYa’s sons fared well, for having been raised on the Blue Planet. As did their companions, human and otherwise. At most the air may seem a little thin but you should adapt quickly.”

She had to trust them, she supposed. There wasn’t much else to do, since she lacked any knowledge of spells that might help her breathe in the foreign atmosphere. It might have been easy if she possessed Donald's or Yen Sid’s magic, but she was only herself and that would have to do.

“Alright.” Dropping her arms to her sides, she nodded. “Let’s go.”

“This is your last chance to prepare,” Fenrir warned. “The beasts of the Lunarian Moon are not kind. There is also the threat of the Heartless to consider.”

Alteci shot a glance towards the corridor that led to the Mecha Fat Chocobo, mouth turning down at the edges. Kairi shook her head, resisting the urge to tug on the armor encircling her wrist to reassure herself.

“I should have all that I need. All I’m really missing is Elixirs, I think.” She smiled, watching her companions slowly nod.

Alteci led the way down, footsteps almost silent except for the occasional scrape of his boots. She followed, watching in awe as the walkway unfolded on its own once their group drew near, feeling Fenrir stop just behind her as they waited for the way to clear. As they stepped out Kairi took a cautious breath, bracing herself for anything unpleasant as she did.

It wasn’t terrible. Thinner than she was used to, and cold, but otherwise nothing debilitating.

Letting out the breath she’d been holding, Kairi opened her eyes and looked around. Almost at once she was struck by how desolate it was – all gray and empty, no sight of any plants or anything to break the monotony except for the rocky mesas in the distance. Above, however, the sky spread out without any sort of disturbance to wash the stars out – so much darker between the small points of light than she’d ever thought. It was also the only light to see by, she noticed.

Lowering her eyes, Kairi suppressed a shiver and brought her focus back to the present. Carefully extending her senses, she tried to find any trace of enemies that might be close at hand, Heartless or otherwise. Just slightly ahead of her, Alteci raised his head and seemed to sniff – the action subtle enough that she could have been mistaken. Fenrir said nothing, merely taking a step forward and scanning the surrounding area with a keen gaze.

Better than her own, probably.

When Alteci started forward, down a sloping incline that looked like it would take them to ground level, Kairi followed and tried not to hold her breath or gasp for breath unnecessarily. Fenrir took up the rear, quieter than she’d thought possible.

_Everything_ was quiet, she realized. There was no wind, at least not that she could hear, and aside from their footsteps over the dark grayish stone only silence pressed in on her ears. Kairi noticed that she was unconsciously straining to hear something, anything, and that it was probably going to hurt soon if she didn’t stop. She was doing the same with her eyes, she found - attempting to squint as though it would improve what she could see of the landscape around them. There wasn't enough light to really help, however. She tried not to let that unsettle her too much.

Her shoes scuffed dry stone and kicked up dust, the fine particles swirling a bit around her feet as she continued to move. The incline wasn’t that steep, thankfully, and they made it down in what had to be less than three minutes. She glanced up at the stars, trying to focus rather than let her mind drift like it otherwise might. They shined back silently, indifferent or oblivious, and she doubted she would be able to pick out the one that was her home.

Once they reached the plateau Alteci turned, altering their course for what looked like the mouth of a cave. Fenrir made to follow but Kairi paused, dread creeping up to replace the wariness and tense excitement that had been warring inside her. The opening in the stone looked dark – much darker than the Secret Place back home ever had. With no sun or moon in the sky to illuminate anything, and the light of the stars so far away that it barely seemed there at all, the entrance to the cave seemed a too-perfect, unnatural black.

Two sets of golden eyes peered at her, almost abnormally bright in the surrounding not-quite gloom. Kairi shivered, this time for a different reason.

There wasn’t the option of going back, she reminded herself.

Swallowing around the tightness in her throat, Kairi pushed herself to go forward until she was between the twins again. They moved as a group once more, cave growing larger until they passed beneath the lip of stone and plunged into the darkness.

With her breath caught in her chest Kairi wanted to freeze. It was cold, much colder than the surface had been and she felt it bite into the unprotected tips of her fingers and the exposed parts of her arms and legs. Stretching her eyes wide and straining to see, she felt a surge of panic when nothing resolved into a proper shape for a second.

Something warm, almost hot, pushed against her back and steered her forward.

She felt the slight pressure between her shoulders that might have been claws and struggled to remind herself that the Heartless weren’t warm. They were cold, colder than this even, and they wouldn’t bother to give her guidance when she couldn’t see.

When she blinked, something had changed. Kairi closed her eyes again and willed herself to breathe evenly, opening them once the roll of bile settled in her stomach. The area around them wasn’t quite pitch dark anymore, the sounds of their footsteps echoing faintly back to them from the cave's walls. She couldn’t quite spot the change until they made a little more progress into the cave, surprise bubbling up where panic had once been.

The floor, even the walls and ceiling in some places, were encrusted with crystals. Rough, uncut fingers of the multifaceted stone crept up in bunches – some almost as big around as her calf. Moreover, each and every crystal gave off a glowing bluish light – nearly white at the brightest. It quietly pushed the dark away, unlike the stark brilliance of the sun in another world. Kairi felt herself relax slightly at the sight, something in her chest twinging with recognition. An echo of a feeling or a memory she didn’t quite understand, not yet, but she couldn’t allow it to take the fore in her mind.

She could see the twins now, Alteci just a step ahead and Fenrir at her side, their hand no longer prodding lightly at the space between her shoulder blades. In this light they seemed to shine as well, pale skin and golden eyes giving off a sort of glow all their own.

Letting out a breath, Kairi steadied her nerves, meeting the twin’s gazes with an apologetic quirk of her lips.

There wasn’t time for them to respond, however. Up ahead, drawing all her attention like iron to a magnet, was a more familiar glow in the patch of darkness that wasn’t quite dispelled by the crystal’s light. It was yellow, lamp-like, and accompanied by the hiss of claws over stone.

Destiny’s Embrace was radiant by comparison as it materialized in her hand.


	4. The Stakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for blood.

They had originally expected more resistance than this.

Bolts of lightning threw eerie shadows on the walls, ceiling and floor of the cave, overwhelming the natural luminescence of the crystals in the stone and turning the gentle light into a harsh bright white. Her sibling roared as the creatures resembling coeurls continued to advance, lamp-like eyes unblinking in the aftermath of the Thundaga spell. Between her and him, the Keybearer named Kairi met one of the monsters head-on. The oddness of her weapon stood out with its flower-boasting blade, but the beings called the Heartless recoiled from the redhead’s strikes the most, collapsing into wisps of dark energy and dust once felled.

More lightning flooded the cavern, the quickest spell afforded to her and her twin by the grace of their species and years of practice. It lit the path ahead even as it destroyed the Heartless flicking their long, oddly tipped tails. The shape resembled something like the lamps their Master’s favored summoner had once described, and given that the creatures sucked in any natural light to darken the space around them if left alone, she supposed the comparison was apt.

What started out as a group of five sleek, black-bodied coeurls was now two – one of them lashing out with permanently extended claws to try and cut her apart. Her own claws dug into disturbingly smooth hide, completely unlike the creatures of the Red Moon the Heartless had taken the form of. She caught it in the chest, felt its flesh, if it could be called that, give beneath her strength. Black dust and purple wisps of what could have been smoke erupted as the Heartless’ body broke apart, the blue of her robes briefly turning dark as the creature’s remains wafted over her.

She heard Kairi shout, turning her head in time to see a respectable bout of flame go shooting into the last Heartless’ side, knocking it further back from their little group. The scent of smoke and dust filled her nose as she and her sibling lunged after the enemy, focused on the destruction of the creature rather than the lack of the odor of burnt flesh.

They had needed to learn the difference between these new threats and the ones they were used to. Still learning, she amended, as the last of their foes crumbled away.

The air stung with the tang of magic – theirs and the Keybearer’s. There was an interesting contrast between the two, but her brother had reasoned their companion’s being human and of another world as the cause behind it. A Behemoth’s innate magic was not the same as a human’s, or a Lunarian’s, after all.

It still bothered her that this was the first sight of conflict they had encountered since leaving the Lunar Whale. The Moon was quiet, true, but the creatures that called it their home had not been so prone to following that rule themselves. A part of her wanted to believe that it did not bode ominously, if the native monsters of the Red Moon distanced themselves from these shells of darkness – things that hunted and killed for seemingly no other reason than to simply do so.

She and her brother shared a look in the returned half-darkness of the cave passage, neither of them much worse for wear. His red hair and robes were disheveled just as much as her own, fingers still curled and ready to strike should the need arise. Some of the black dust had settled on him too, she noticed.

“You guys make a really good team.” Kairi’s slightly uneven voice broke the silence that had settled in the aftermath of the skirmish, her breath still coming in and out as slightly rough. The girl looked unharmed when she turned her gaze towards her. Flushed from the fight, yes, and tucking an errant bit of red hair behind her ear with her free hand, otherwise in fine mettle.

“We have had long years of practice.” Her brother spoke for them, his voice deeper than it had been on the ship, rougher from his battle cry. He flicked his claws as if to clean them, habit even if the creatures they’d just faced did not bleed.

A smile flitted over the young girl’s face, her posture slowly relaxing as her breath evened out. “Well I’ve never seen anyone fight like the two of you do. It’s amazing.”

She felt her mouth twitch at that, shooting her twin a look that he returned with softly glowing eyes.

“You will find other things to consider in such a light, I imagine.” She remarked, flicking her fingers in much the same manner as her brother had done. Smoothing out the amusement from her face and voice, she continued. “It would be advisable for us to continue on, however. The path to the Crystal Palace is a long one. Will you be alright?”

Kairi’s eyes widened at the question, surprise clear as the weather of the Blue Planet had once been to them, when the Red Moon still orbited it. Her hold on the striking Keyblade she bore slackened for a moment, flowered crest nearly touching the ground before she steadied her hand. The girl’s expression turned sheepish, then into a grimace.

“I… I haven’t had many good experiences in dark places like this. But I won’t let it slow us down, I promise.” Kairi lifted her gaze at that, meeting her own stare with a straightened back and firm resolve.

The lass had spark, she could see that much.

“Pace yourself all the same.” Her brother’s voice filled in the quiet, his eyes darting towards the passage they still had to traverse. “There will be more. If the situation leaves room for respite, take it.”

“Only if you do too.” The jibe caught them both slightly off-guard, a smile faintly brightening Kairi’s face as she moved to stand between them once more. Her Keyblade glinted in the natural light of the crystals, turning the warm colors slightly paler. No less intriguing, to be sure. Kairi looked between them as if she knew something they didn’t and added, “I might be new at this, but you guys don’t have to pull all the weight. If you need a breather later then don’t put yourself out on my account.”

“The lass possesses cheek.” She found herself murmuring, pushing aside the smirk that attempted to take over her expression. Her brother clicked his tongue lightly, turning once more to take the lead. She felt more than saw their companion’s look in response, amused that the girl’s emotions were easily read. Her ears caught the soft puff of air that left the girl as she started walking alongside them, the tread of their feet and whisper of her and her sibling’s robes over the cave floor filling in the quiet.

In truth, it was unnerving how silent the Heartless could be. There were entities of the Red Moon that didn’t need to tread on the ground – clumps of sentient cells that fled combat if their fellows perished, Bombs that would self-destruct if provoked, the silver and golden dragons that called their Master’s lair their home, to name a few. Yet, aside from a sapping chill in the immediate vicinity and the warping of reality, the Heartless they’d encountered thus far made little to no noise.

The coeurl look-a-likes had claws that scraped stone, at least. But they did not growl or grunt in attack or defense and she wasn’t sure if more Heartless would take on forms similar to monsters she and her brother knew. Likely, perhaps. It did not mean that she had to welcome it.

Their walk continued in silence, ears trained to catch the slightest foreign sound. Kairi shivered minutely when they needed to traverse a patch of darkness untouched by the light of the crystals, shutting her eyes just a little too long to be a blink and taking a marginally deeper breath than usual. As they turned with a bend in the cave’s passage, darkness pooled unnaturally and from within the mass a set of yellow eyes glowed.

Its body was roughly spherical save for two long antennae at what she thought might be the crown of its head, a twitching tail emerging from its lower end. From the center of its being emerged dark purple lines, akin to veins, that marred the creature’s hide and stretched out all over its form in twisting patterns. Its mouth opened, a purple maw stretching wide as it jabbered nonsensically. As it bobbed in place, opening and closing its mouth, two more formed out of pooling shadow. Each one looked identical, each of them occasionally becoming erratic in their hovering – bouncing about in a violent, jerking motion as though they’d been seized and roughly shaken around by some stronger force.

“Do you recognize these?” Her brother asked, sparks already beginning to flicker and arc between his fingertips. His question, posed to Kairi, went unanswered for a moment as the girl settled into a cautiously defensive stance – her feet at shoulder-width apart and both hands on the pommel of her blade.

“Dark Balls, I think.” Kairi finally answered, a faint uncertainty in her tone. “They’re strong – but magic works fine on them.”

It was enough. Her brother raised his hand, calling for the storm, sending tangled-looking snarls of yellow and white electricity at the Heartless. They didn’t scatter, to her surprise. Two of them took the blow directly, the third twitching and spasming as errant streaks of lightning arced to singe it as well. None of them cried out for all their writhing, but their response to the assault was swift.

One shrank as though by magic, becoming little more than a bobbing purple flame that streaked away from the conflict and hovered closer to the shadows. The other two lunged, snapping their jagged teeth at whatever they could reach – she stumbled back from the impact of one’s spastic course, felt the creature’s teeth try and find purchase on her arm.

Heat built in her palm, scorching and bright as flames licked the space between clawed fingers and she released the fireball directly into the Heartless’ mouth. Jerking her arm free, there was a second to admire the contorting figure before it burst into wisps, her attention arrested by the remaining two.

Kairi raised her blade to block a Heartless’s rush, stumbling as she herself had done from the impact – before swinging her Keyblade to keep the creature at bay as she fought to regain her balance. The Dark Ball took a part of the blow, either unable to dodge the swing or uncaring if it connected. Its gaping maw closed somewhat as it twisted in the air with apparent pain, yellow eyes lacking the ability to shut tight in response.

She saw her brother leap for it, his fingers wedging between its jaws and forcing them wide, too wide and apart. It shuddered under him, attempting to snap its maw shut and she saw him snarl as he ripped it apart.

Pain blossomed in her right shoulder and back, a wave of coldness seeping into her skin as the Heartless she’d forgotten about sank its teeth into her shoulder. It jerked about, dragging her back and swinging her to and fro as it heaved itself in the erratic flight she’d observed moments before. She screamed, rage and pain echoing back in eerie cacophony as she reached to claw at the creature. Its hide felt like tough, twisted scar tissue – what purchase her claws found too ineffective to actually harm the Heartless.

Another yell, Kairi’s, pierced the air but she wasn’t given time to think on it as she was suddenly dropped – landing in a sprawl and gritting her teeth at the jarring pain from her wound. Wetness was spreading over the layers of her robes, feeling and the warmth of her body returning now that the Dark Ball had released her.

She smelled cold, a dip in temperature that was at odds with the natural chill of the Red Moon and hunkered down against the stone floor as it passed overhead. The sound of something shattering, too dense to be glass, bounced off the walls in tandem with her sibling’s angered howl and the scent of ozone.

Her claws scrapped the stone as lightning played with the shadows and crystalline illumination of the passage, the coldness of the Blizzard spell eroded by the fury of Thundara. The quiet which descended in the wake of the spell seemed thick, pressing on her ears and enhancing the rushing sound she was trying to push back.

Sitting up was an effort and she grunted with it, teeth grinding against further noise and showing her annoyance. Letting out a measured breath, she turned her head to check the wound, grimacing at the sight of dark ichor staining the area. The Heartless’ teeth had pierced through the layers of cloth, sunk into the hollow of her shoulder as it had thrashed itself and her about. When she parted the puncture in her robes to look at the wounds themselves the most she could make out in the cave’s light was dark spots where blood marked the punctures.

The hurried tread of two sets of feet made her look up, her brother’s longer stride carrying him just slightly ahead of Kairi. He helped her up, unflinching when he saw the extent of the damage. They had each suffered worse, after all, though he minded her hiss of pain with a supporting hand against her lower back.

Kairi’s face looked pale in the crystal’s light, mouth slightly open and blue-violet eyes fixed on the wound. She had the thought that this might be the first time the Keybearer had seen such an injury, silently pleased that the girl did not faint at the sight.

“I can heal it.” Were the words the redhead spoke, surprising her. Kairi set her jaw as she met her eye, still pale but extending her hand with the offer.

“Have you done such before?” She asked, tone rough with annoyance at the throb from the wound rather than the girl herself. “If not, a potion will suffice.”

A steely look entered the young human’s expression, green light already flickering to life in her extended hand. She murmured softly under her breath, concentration overtaking her features and the light dancing between them grew to a glowing brilliance. A rush of green wrapped itself in a spiraling arc around her, her brother, and Kairi herself much to her surprise; a clean, almost sweet taste settling itself in the back of her mouth as the spell did its work.

It faded and Kairi lowered her hand, hesitating for a second before she stepped closer. Reaching out with the same hand she cast with, the Keybearer carefully checked the spot where the wound had been. She let her, blinking away the residual light of magic and sighing with relief at the lack of pain.

Kairi’s fingers touched smooth skin, a shaky smile turning her mouth upwards as a flicker of pride entered her eyes.

“My thanks.” She said, straightening up and feeling her brother’s hand drop away from her back now that the support was unnecessary. He squeezed her arm once, gently, before taking a step back. Kairi moved back as well, dirt spattered across her lower legs but no sign or scent of blood on her.

“Glad to help. I’m glad it worked.” The relief was plain on the girl’s face but the tinge of pride hadn’t faded. If anything, she seemed a little more confident. Concern entered her gaze and the redhead shifted, Keyblade still in her grasp. “Will you be alright?”

Nodding, she adjusted the stained cloth so that it wasn’t immediately sticking to her newly healed skin. She met her twin’s gaze, a silent answer to his unspoken question and turned her attention back to the other girl. “We had best continue if we want to reach FuSoYa soon. These creatures will only get stronger the longer we tarry.”

Kairi nodded, setting her shoulders as she and her brother turned back to the path ahead. They walked, quick but cautious, now more eager to put this first cave system behind them. Once they reached the open plains outside, the crossing might be easier – the lack of enclosing walls certainly a boon if more Heartless such as the ones they had just faced appeared. They would, she was sure, and there was always the ever-present chance of encountering something worse on their way.

The quiet of the tunnel stretched on, their shadows stretching out ahead of them when the patches of light the crystals cast were passed by. No further fluctuations of deeper darkness greeted them for the moment, the worst thing they encountered on their trek being squishy, slopping sound of a retreating Flan. When the creature didn’t show itself, either out of fear or some other reason, they continued on.

Eventually, the path widened a little and opened up – light from the scattered stars providing enough to see by and each of them felt a little relieved to step out from the cave’s mouth. Out in the open, gray terrain surrounded them once again, in all directions except for behind them. Still a considerable distance away, the spurs of the Crystal Palace could be seen – palace itself surrounded by a blocky mesa not unlike the one they’d left the Lunar Whale on.

She sensed Kairi stepping close, not for comfort but to get a better look at their goal. The girl rose up on her toes as though it would help, squinting as she strained her eyes.

“How will we get in?” The question was spoken softly, a bit of bewilderment mixed with it.

“There is another cave we must travel through.” Her brother said, pointing it out to their curious companion. She saw the girl’s expression fall a little at the mention of another set of tunnels. Her twin lowered his hand, thumb lightly scratching at his littlest finger as he thought.

She could guess the question that plagued him, since it had hardly left her alone either.

“It will take a day to cross the plains and enter the caves.” She said, meeting Kairi’s curious look with an even one of her own. “Perhaps half a day to work through them, if more Heartless than what we faced already bar our way. There is no safe haven here,” she gestured to the vast emptiness around them matter-of-factly. “Save for the Palace itself and our Master’s lair, should He extend the honor.”

“Shouldn’t we try and get as close as we can though?” Kairi shifted her weight, Keyblade standing out just as much as the girl herself in the barren moonscape. Her eyes flicked towards the Palace and its giant pillar of crystal before the girl looked between herself and her brother. “You said your Master needed help, and we have to find Fusoya too. See if he’ll help us, like you said.”

She noticed the lack of proper inflection in the girl’s pronunciation of the Lunarian’s name, felt her lips twitch a little with it. Doubtless her sibling would take amusement in it as well.

“We can,” she answered. “Until we must rest. Dragging oneself on when overtired is a poor idea.”

Her brother hummed, sharing the sentiment.

Kairi smiled, once more tucking back the errant bit of hair that had escaped from the low tail she wore. She gave off a confident sort of energy, adjusting her hold on her Keyblade. “Well then, let’s go.”

“Troublesome.” Her twin muttered, eyes curved at the corners and the word lacking any real vehemence. It was her turn to hum in response, starting forward as Kairi pinned her sibling with a faintly narrow-eyed look.


	5. Arrival

The plains surrounding them seemed even more barren than usual. Before, he could have tracked creatures making their way to one den or another, hunting and fighting for their place. Most of the creatures he knew to inhabit the Red Moon seemed to have vanished – choosing to lay low or having been felled by the Heartless. The coeurl-like beasts appeared more often than the others, he’d noticed, occasionally followed by the ones the Keybearer referred to as Dark Balls.

So far, none of them had acquired any particularly lasting injury. Their stock of potions and Kairi’s magic cleansed most wounds away, and once they reached the Crystal Palace there would be time for a more proper recovery.

If he were younger he might have raked his claws through the fine, thin layer of dirt to occupy himself on watch – as it was now he simply counted stars. An exercise in futility, perhaps, but he found it passed the time for his shift. Before now, he and his sister rarely left their Master’s lair. There was no real need to, as everything they required could be found within their Master's lair and there was no need to visit the Lunarians' resting place.

So, beneath a seemingly endless expanse of sky, he counted stars as his sister and their human companion tried to sleep.

They’d made good progress once they had left the first cave, setting a quick, if cautious, pace across the moonscape. The second cave was now ahead but the option of rest had been discussed and agreed upon. For all the Red Moon lacked any day or night of its own now that it had left the Blue Planet’s orbit, it seemed too unwise to risk travelling for longer than the day and some that they already had.

Despite himself, he felt weary. The notion was slightly irritating and humbling - for all he was a guard for his Master, had been for longer than most lived, there was something draining about fighting these creatures called the Heartless.

Behind him, in a makeshift shelter Kairi had called a tent, he caught the sound of sleepy murmuring. It reminded him of the last group to sleep near him – the one lead by KluYa’s youngest son. They had been wary at first, all except for Rydia, who had reassured them that his Master’s word was true. He remembered that they had settled awkwardly then, three men and two women, weapons nearby and falling into restless sleep.

They had watched over them, his sister and himself, at their Master’s dismissive order.

He felt a bit like he had then – fatigued from battle but awake all the same, watching for the slightest sign of trouble.

It helped, perhaps, that Kairi was shaping up to be a more agreeable companion than the Blue Planet’s group. She’d done well thus far, holding her own and providing insight he hadn’t expected them to need. She knew more of the Heartless than they did and had tried to explain the goals the beasts might possess.

The theft of hearts in order to make more of their own kind made a form of sense, he supposed. And if the Heartless targeted strength then it would also make sense that his Master would be made a goal of theirs. He did not like the idea of it, but it was unlikely that his Master would succumb to creatures such as the Heartless.

Bahamaut, the Hallowed Father of Eidolons was powerful yes – but he had no patience for those that intruded upon his territory.

What did not help was that this was the first time his sister and himself had been sent away. Even when the Maenads had come, they had stayed by their Master’s side until they were overwhelmed by the woman’s magic.

Growling at himself, he pushed the thoughts aside and narrowed his eyes at the unchanged terrain around them. No lunar winds stirred, by magic or otherwise, and the air felt heavy. In a few more hours they would continue and unless the situation was too dire they could ask FuSoYa for aid. They would need it, he admitted to himself, if it came down to fighting their Master.

Lowering his eyes from the spots of light above, he scanned the area once more.

“I can hear you thinking.” His sister’s voice broke the silence and he turned his head just enough to show that he was listening. There was a rustle of fabric too heavy to be her robes, the soft scrape of her boots coming a moment later as she stood. She filled the space to his right, blue of her hair and robes just in the corner of his vision.

In response, he clicked his tongue. “You are the one who should be sleeping.”

“I have.” She said, and he turned his head to really look at her.

The color seemed to have come back to her features at least, shadows that had drawn lines of stress over her face less heavy. Her right shoulder, fabric of her robes stiff-looking and dark with dried blood, drew his eye. As if in answer to a silent question she rolled her shoulders, showing no sign of pain as she did.

“Did I miscount the time?” He asked, rather than push the issue. They healed at a faster rate than other beings of the Red Moon and if she said she was rested then he would believe her.

Blue tresses swayed as she shook her head, her horn darker in the lack of strong, steady light. “I do not mind taking over the watch. It would be best to let Kairi sleep.” Something passed over her face and he knew it was amusement.

Canting his head in question, he waited.

“She sleeps like a cub.” She said. The corners of her mouth turned upwards and he felt his own twitch in much the same manner.

He had no idea how much rest a human required, but if his twin said the girl slept soundly then he could believe it.

“Will you take watch?” He asked.

She nodded, briefly touching his arm as he turned towards the tent. It looked, he thought, too small. But if it was just the Keybearer and himself then there was unlikely to be an issue. The flaps of the tent parted easily and he blinked in the darkness to regain his vision. Kairi was curled on her side, back facing him. There was no sign of her Keyblade.

Laying down, he closed his eyes and evened out his breathing. In moments he was asleep.

-

Waking brought its own set of issues, he found. Opening his eyes and turning his head, confirming that Kairi was still sleep eased a twinge of unease that had stirred him awake. As he sat up however, she moved. When they made eye contact she froze, eyes widening in surprise and fear. A spark of light danced under her palm and he leaned away from it, the brightness of it too harsh to look at in that moment.

“I am not a Heartless, Kairi.” He kept his voice soft, as much as it could be when he’d just woken.

She relaxed, much to his relief.

“Sorry.”

“Never you mind.” He brushed it aside, shifting to open the tent to allow a bit more light in. It alleviated some of the dark that came from the lack of a sun and he heard Kairi breathe easier for it. His twin spared him a look over her shoulder as he exited the tent, her hand lifting as she tossed him something. It felt rough when he caught it, its color a dark reddish-brown as he looked it over.

The scent was familiar, and he bit into it as he joined his sister. She was chewing on her own strip of meat, licking her fingers once done.

Once his was gone he asked, “Where did you find it?”

“A sorceress came too close and she had it when I went through what she carried.” She held up a slightly tattered pouch, its tie broken. Glass clinked gently from inside and he nodded, satisfied that the threat had been taken care of.

As they waited for their human companion to emerge he took the chance to lift his tone, verging on what might have been called a tease as he spoke. “I thought you did not like the taste of them. Coeurl yes, but not the mages.”

“It is preferable to consuming a flan.” His sister answered, flicking dust from her sleeve. “Some passed us by as you slept. All were moving away from this place.”

He hummed at that, ears perking as the sound of the tent rustling once more. Kairi shuffled out, attempting to tie her hair back and greet them at the same time with the tie in her mouth. The sound was a muffled mesh of possible words and the both of them waited until she has finished fixing her hair to respond.

“Good morn to you as well.” His sister hummed, one hand sliding into the pouch she took from the sorceress and drawing out another strip of meat. She handed it over, watching as Kairi took it with a murmur of thanks.

“You were correct.” He says to his twin as the young girl takes her first bite, chewing thoughtfully with heavy lidded eyes. When his sibling cants her head at him he inclines his own towards their red haired companion. “She sleeps like a cub.”

Kairi coughs around her meal, awareness present in her eyes when she shoots him a look. He stares back, blinking slowly as he waits for her to challenge his statement.

She swallowed, brushing off her fingers. “I do not.”

“You lack the knowledge of what a Behemoth cub is like.” He says back, lifting a hand to inspect his claws. His twin makes a sound low in her throat that may or may not be laughter. Kairi turns her eyes to his sister as well, cheeks pink.

Before the girl can say anything his sister offers her a silver-skinned fruit, making Kairi and himself blink in surprise. As she takes it with care he sends his sibling a questioning look over the Keybearer’s head. The shrug he receives in response is subtle but there.

“What is it?” Kairi turned the fruit over in her hands, carefully playing with the black stem.

“A silver apple.” His sister nodded at the fruit, pocketing the pouch for later. “It helps one develop their magical skill.”

They watch as she takes a small bite after that, slowly chewing. The flesh of the apple is pure white from what he can see before he turns away to pack up their small camp. It doesn’t take long, when he finishes he spots Kairi frowning slightly as she rubs her fingers.

At his curious look she says, “It feels like they’re tingling. I haven’t cast any spells yet but I feel… different.”

“It will settle.” He tells her. His sister finishes counting their supplies, glancing up at them as she moves to stand.

“Do they grow here? Those apples I mean.” Kairi tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear, eyes flitting over the landscape in open curiosity.

He shakes his head at the same time his sibling does, remaining quiet as his sister explains.

“There are no plants on the Red Moon, though some have tried to cultivate them. The gold and silver apples came from the Lunarian’s home world, I believe.” She pauses, casting a look towards their goal. The Crystal Palace shines even still, closer now than it originally had been.

“Are you ready?” He asks them both and they nod.

Leaving their spot is easy, traces of their presence erased with a muttered Aero spell.

They reach the cave within the hour, his sister leading this time and Kairi walking in step with him. The Keybearer shivers a little as they enter the tunnel and he pretends not to notice. The crystals in the floor, walls and ceiling light the way; veins of luminescent stone are wider here, providing more light. To his surprise, a red and gold chest is tucked by a cluster of crystals, half buried in the rock.

His sister pauses by it, looking it over.

“It does not appear to be cursed.” She says after a minute, turning her head to look at them over her shoulder. Light from the cave’s crystals glinted off her horn, casting a sharp length of shadow over her face.

“Maybe I can open it.” Kairi moved forward, summoning her Keyblade in a flash of light and what appeared to be swirling petals.

His nose twitched, catching the foreign scent of flowers.

They watched as she tapped the chest with the end of her Keyblade, surprised to hear a faint ‘click’ and see the lid swing up to expose the contents. A bundle of cloth lay inside from what he could see.

Kairi lifted it out, slowly unwrapping it. Glass shimmered softly in the pale light, a bottle about the same size as a potion resting on the cloth. When the redhead lifted it to see what was inside, the contents caught the light and seemed to ripple with colors – green and white, red and blue following orange and yellow. It was difficult to say whether the stuff was liquid or not, but he was thankful that Kairi didn’t immediately reach for the stopper in order to find out.

“What is it?” The girl sounded slightly awed, watching the colors shift inside the bottle.

“Dry Ether, perhaps.” He mused, eyeing it. “Recently mixed.”

He got a questioning look for that.

“Think of it as a more potent Ether.” His sister answered, also watching the bottle. “It will restore more of your magic if used. I would caution that you do so sparingly. The contents are potent.”

“It’s that strong?” Blue-violet eyes returned to the bottle, a flicker of wariness in them. Kairi eased the bottle out, wrapping only the first layer of cloth around it for safekeeping before sliding it into one of the pouches on her person. The rest of the cloth she stuck in the other one, neatly folded into a square.

How they fit, he wasn’t sure.

They continued on, their first encounter with Heartless occurring just a little farther into the cave. The only warning came with shifting of light, a coolness spreading through the air. They stopped, his and his sibling’s shoulders tensing as they readied their claws. Kairi’s keyblade split the deepening shadow with its arrival, the girl holding in that same two-handed grip that he’d seen before.

Claws scraped over stone as the shapes resolved themselves, black coeurl-shapes with long flicking tails that absorbed light to darken the area around them. Two out of three figures paced, a shudder wracking the third’s frame as though it had caught a chill. Behind them was the jabbering, bobbing figure of a Dark Ball, snapping its maw at them as it floated.

He chided himself for being surprised that Kairi charged in first, flowery keyblade raised to strike.

His sister aimed ahead of the girl’s running form, striking the Dark Ball and one of the coeurls with lightning. As the bolts turned gray stone white and black, he lept onto one of the circling beasts and dug in his claws. It swung at him, bucking to free itself. A roar told him that his sibling had joined the fray, the sound deafening in close quarters like this.

He put it from his mind, tearing in to pitch dark hide and being covered in blackened dust and purple wisps for it.

Beneath him, the ground turned just as dark and a pair of yellow eyes stared up at him before lunging up. Unprepared, he toppled from the assault, hitting the ground before regaining his feet. Fixing it with a narrow eyed stare, he bared his teeth.

The Heartless’ antennae trembled as though receiving some form of information, humanoid shape crouching low to the ground as it twisted and turned from the waist.

When he lunged, it met him head-on and grappled with him before lifting its feet and kicking him in the chest. Flickers of light and the chaos of noise confused him for a moment as he landed but he got to his feet, growling at the creature that paced towards him. It stopped, swaying side to side before the ground at its feet became dark – dark as the Heartless’ own body and it sunk into the black pool.

He has an idea of what to expect, backing up as he ran his gaze over the floor around him.

It came from his left, jumping up and out of a similar pool of darkness and swinging its long arms in an attempt to claw him apart. He caught it mid-leap with Fira, smacking its writhing body into the ceiling with a savage twinge of enjoyment. As it tumbled he tore it apart, moving through the fragments of its dusty remains to pass the others in favor of driving another coeurl from his sibling’s side.

Kairi’s voice rung out with a command, shards of ice striking her target. New lights and shadows decorate the cave as the ice splinters off the Heartless’ body and covers the stone as well, some of it encasing patches of crystal nearby and giving rise to new refractions.

They kept fighting until the area was clear, breath coming hard for all three of them once it is done. Other than the ice patches on the stone, scorch marks from flame and lightning, little remains to show for the fight. He spied metal glittering on the ground and peered at it - coins of an unfamiliar origin laying where one Heartless had fallen. Gathering them up, he joined his sibling and Kairi.

“Munny?” The redhead asked, surprised as he offers it to her. He shrugs as she took it with a word of thanks, dropping it into one of her pouches. She’s as dirt covered as he is, he notes, a set of four angry scrapes running down her arm being the worst of what he sees.

His sister wipes her face with a hand, leaving behind a smear of dark ichor.

“What do you call the ones that looked human?” He asks, disquieted by the sudden new arrival into their enemy’s ranks.

Kairi frowns as she checks her arm, splashing it with the potion his twin offers before downing a little of it herself. A little of the strain leaves her face as she swallows, capping what remains for later. “Neoshadows.” She finally says, meeting his eye. “They’re only supposed to be in places heavily influenced by Darkness, according to Yen Sid.”

It’s his turn to frown at that, an identical look on his sibling’s face.

Once they’ve patched up what needs attention they continue on, quicker now than the planned pace before.

More Heartless appear, their groups larger the closer they get to the Crystal Palace. It finally reaches a head when they near the exit of the cave, a swarm of Neoshadows thick enough to seem hardly more than a thicket of yellow eyes.

In a moment of rage, he howls, seeing nothing but red. The cave trembles with it, smaller bits of rock coming free of the ceiling as the sound fills the air. Heat and energy come with it, dark crimson meteors blazing through the mass of Heartless.

He comes to with the taste of phoenix down in his mouth, warmth spreading throughout his body and chasing away the coldness he hadn’t been aware of until then. As he managed a blink something cool is pressed to his lips, sweet smelling and more familiar in its taste. The world resolves itself as he downs the hi-potion, his twin helping him sit up once he’s finished it.

“That was foolish of you.” She reprimands as she takes the empty bottle from his hand. He doesn’t comment at first, too busy glancing around just to be sure the area is clear.

“It worked.” He croaked back, wincing at the sound and the various aches making themselves known throughout his body. It is briefly tuned out when a fresh burst of pain blossoms on his upper arm, Kairi drawing her fist back as he growls.

Her mouth is set in a thin line and her dusty, slightly bloodied fist still poised for another blow. The look in her eyes is similar to his twin’s, bright and angry.

“ _Never_ do that again, hear me?” The girl demands, loosening her fist slowly. He catches a glimpse of the hilt of her Keyblade beside her, crest of flowers still colorful against the dirt.

“Casting Meteor will not kill me.” He says back, slowly sitting up.

His sister draws back to let him, looking as though she would not mind hitting him herself. Her blue robes are spotted with dirt and black dust, his nose catches the scent of blood but he can’t find any visible wound on her.

“It obviously took a lot out of you.” Kairi countered, harsher than he has ever heard her speak before. Her hand lifts, pale light of a healing spell wrapping itself around their group as she continues. “I wasn’t sure _what_ happened to you. Fenrir kept saying she was going to snap your horn off for using that spell.”

“Is that so?” He glanced towards his sibling, dropping his gaze from her stony expression. After a moment, relaxing as the Cura faded, he softened his voice. “I meant to clear the way. That is all.”

Twin huffs of air accompany his statement and he isn’t surprised. Kairi helps him to his feet and he thanks her, flexing his fingers to get better feeling back into them. He’s tired, more so than he had been previously. After another moment of double checking that they are ready to continue, they leave.

The cool air is a welcome respite from the lingering heat of Meteor in the cave and it wakes him up a little to be in it. No more Heartless show themselves as they trek across another expanse of gray plains, the towering reach of the crystal surrounding the Palace’s structure growing clearer as they approach.

They emerge from its shadow as they near the mesa that acts as the entrance, the unassuming mouth of another cave before them. He can hear the faintest of sighs from Kairi at the sight, though she doesn’t say anything as they enter.

Instead of a tunnel, they step out into the hall of mirrored tiles and crystalline walls. Kairi’s surprised intake of breath makes his lips twitch upward as he follows her and his twin further inside. It’s cool, not as jarring the moonscape outside, but comfortable. On either side of them a corridor extends, a turn in the path preventing him from seeing where exactly it ends.

A thick rug softens their footfalls as they walk, an odd luxury in his mind as he looks around for the source of the noise he’s hearing. Faint but constant, almost rhythmic as it drifts in and out of his hearing. At the front of their group, he sees his sister turning her head as well, their reflections in the floor and walls mimicking every action.

Kairi’s eyes are round are she looks past him, looking at their surroundings as though she hadn’t truly expected them to be carved of crystal like they seemed to be.

He almost pities her on that, glancing at the reflective surfaces with distaste.

His sister stopped abruptly, drawing their attention back up to the room ahead. A wide space, enough for his Master to be able to spread his wings to the fullest and then some greeted them. A short set of stairs in the center of the room lead to a seat of light not unlike what cradled the control crystal on the Lunar Whale, but that wasn’t what surprised him the most.

A veritable garden of shifting white ears spread out around the central seat, nearly a throne, and each pair of ears attached to an equally white rabbit. Curious red eyes fixed on their group – all of little creatures the same shape and size. The similarity continued even to the creature’s style of dress, all appearing confusingly identical to him.

For a moment, brief and pleasant, the sound of humming stopped.

“What in our Master’s holy name are you doing here?” He asked.


	6. Disappointment

The silence didn’t last long in the wake of Alteci’s question, a wave of recognition seeming to pass through the assembled rabbits almost immediately. Their voices, perhaps soft and affable under different circumstances, rose with exclamations of surprise. Kairi thought that maybe a few of them even sounded relieved, but it was hard to be sure when the noise was pressing in on the headache which was forming between her temples.

She stayed still as some of the rabbits took the chance to come closer, each one that did was no taller than her knee if she didn’t count their ears. A semi-circle of identical red cloaks and white turbans surrounded them, a tirade of questions directed towards her companions competing with one another in order to be heard. The twins didn’t look particularly happy about it - Alteci in particular holding himself in a stiff sort of manner that reminded her of Riku when he wanted to be left alone.

Fenrir opened their mouth to speak, possibly to quieten the crowd around them, but Kairi’s attention had already drifted elsewhere.

The room they were in was huge – perhaps only a little smaller than some of the rooms she’d glimpsed in Yen Sid’s Tower. Every wall had the same mirror-like tiles as the floor and when she tilted her head back she thought the material shifted more towards raw crystal the higher it went.

Even when she strained her eyes it was hard to tell, most of the room’s light coming from the raised seat in the center. The ceiling, if there was one, was higher than she could see.

Lowering her gaze so she didn't have to stare up at the curious darkness above their heads, Kairi glanced at the raised dais again and the light that spilled out around the throne-like chair. Where the light came from she had no idea, but it didn’t flicker like a fire might. The brilliance it gave off was a solid, steady white. It made her uncomfortable for reasons she couldn’t name, the temptation to fold her arms around herself getting stronger the longer she looked around.

That was how she saw him - stepping from the darker hall ahead, seemingly at ease with his surroundings.

Kairi felt her body tense, her throat closing up and locking her breath in a tight knot in the depths of her chest. She was certain, for a moment, that the person she was looking at couldn’t be real – could not be here in this strange corner of the universe when her friends had worked so hard and faced terrible things to get rid of him.

When the man stepped into the unwavering light that filled the room however, the details were easier to pick out.

It came slowly, filtering through a haze of panic she hadn’t felt since being in The World That Never Was – the realization that this man was too tall and massive to possibly be the Seeker of Darkness. In fact, the closer he got Kairi was certain he would easily tower over any of the members of Organization XIII that she knew of. The darkness of his skin and the length of silver-white hair were similar, except where the Seeker’s hair had been slicked back this man’s was completely loose. Perhaps slightly wavy as it settled behind his broad shoulders.

His face was different too - broader, the jaw more square. He held himself entirely different from the man that had destroyed her home and hurt her friends. An easy grace in efficient, controlled movements that she had started to recognize as a sign of someone used to fighting.

And he was barefoot.

It hit her last, that his footsteps made no sound that she could pick up – which she would have thought impossible for someone of his stature. But, she realized, other than a long black cloak and kilt, what looked like rosary beads around his arms and one ankle, he wore nothing else.

Now fully in the light and not quite so close that she had to tilt her head back to see his face, Kairi finally saw the color of his deep-set eyes – a dark violet instead of the harsh gold she had expected upon first seeing him.

It was enough to make her relax a little, trapped breath leaving her in a shaky exhale – the sound so loud to her own ears that it made her realize just how quiet the room had become once more. Now that she was aware of it, the rushing in her mind and ears no longer drowning everything else out, she could see that a good many eyes were on her – or were before they turned towards the new arrival.

The twins stared back at her the longest before turning their attention to the imposing man.

She swallowed, following their look with embarrassed eyes - a mix of unease, an odd sense of shame, and lingering fear rolling in her stomach.

The man was also looking at her, his expression a mask of stoicism that not even Riku or Lea could match. It wasn’t unkind, but Kairi felt uncomfortable beneath his stare.

Thankfully, he looked away and seemed to direct his attention towards the twins.

“Golbez.” Fenrir stated, their voice void of any sense of inflection beyond simple acknowledgement. Their sibling said nothing, the both of them standing with their posture impossibly straight and perfect as she’d seen them in her mentor’s Tower.

“Behemoth.” He answered, addressing them both as one. His voice was a deep rumble, deeper than Saix or Xemnas’ had ever been. It was as intimidating as the rest of him, Kairi thought. “You did not come just to return the Lunar Whale, I imagine.”

The rabbits around them stayed silent, their ears perked to listen. Occasionally, one or more of them would shift their stare to the man called Golbez or one of the twins. They ignored her, for the most part, and Kairi almost felt a little glad for it.

Neither of the twins moved, to nod or otherwise. Their faces were just as blank as Golbez’s and Kairi wasn’t sure if it was the gravity of the Moon or if there was some sort of history between them that made the air in the room feel heavy.

“We have come to seek aid in returning to our Master’s lair.” Alteci said it as though he was reciting it from practice, the notion obviously one he didn’t seem to care for. Fenrir stared straight ahead, arms at their sides.

A glance sent her way - subtle enough that if she hadn’t been paying attention she would have missed it, before Golbez looked at the twins again. Kairi still felt it, the shift of his attention towards her.

“Do you anticipate the need to face your Master in trial?”

“It has been taken into consideration.” Fenrir answered smoothly, unaffected under the taller man’s stare. “Although the Keybearer has proven herself competent with fighting the ones her master calls the Heartless, she is not prepared for the creatures within our Master’s territory.”

_The Keybearer_ , Kairi thought to herself with a bitter taste in her mouth, a twinge of irritation in her chest. They might not have been friends, but she would have thought that the twins would at least refer to her by her name.

A flicker of something passed over Golbez’s face, too quick for her to catch and decipher. “You would take an ill-trained warrior to face your Master?”

He disapproved, that much she could guess from the way he said the words. The words _‘ill-trained’_ still stung even though he didn’t seem to mean it as an insult - the reminder of how far behind she was in experience compared to her friends, to her new companions even, feeding a little more fuel to the mix of emotions in her chest.

“Her weapon is the most effective against the Heartless.” Alteci answered. “In clearing the path to our Master, the magic and skill FuSoYa and you yourself possess would serve as a boon. If you would be willing to share your knowledge of magic, she would not be so ill prepared.”

“Would we really have to fight him, your Master?” Kairi asked before she could help herself. More and more it seemed that the plan was a sketchy one at best. Almost worthy of Tidus’ murmured thoughts at the early hours of the morning with too little sleep to fuel them. She didn’t shrink back when the twins’ eyes focused on her, or when Golbez’s followed.

Gathering herself, she continued. “You said that he sent you to look for help, but if he’s been fighting the Heartless on his own we would only need to help him out, right?”

The twins didn’t blink at her question, didn’t respond at all except to share a look between themselves.

“It would not be possible at present in any case.” Golbez’s low voice broke the silence, doing nothing to ease the sense of nerves that had settled in her stomach at the twins’ lack of reaction. All eyes went to him at that and he gave no sign of whether it bothered him or not. His eyes remained on the twins but Kairi had the sense that he was also addressing her with his next words. “Fusoya is in no state fit for travel. I cannot simply leave him unguarded at this time.”

“How long will he need to recover?” One of the twins asked, something close to irritation in their voice. At the angle she stood, Kairi wasn’t sure if it was Fenrir or Alteci.

Golbez didn’t shrug, as others she knew might have.

“That is not an answer I am able to provide. Until he does, I cannot provide the assistance you are looking for.” He stated it as simple fact, quiet and sure. After a pause he added, “You have leave to rest here, as you need it. I would ask that you refrain from going farther into the Palace, however.”

Kairi felt his eyes on her again, as though he meant the words specifically for her.

This time she managed to meet his gaze, making herself stand straight under it.

He inclined his head the faintest bit, not to her, but the twins and turned to leave. The darkness of the hall swallowed him up as he entered it – different from how someone vanished when using a portal but eerie all the same. It brought back some of her unease to watch, the soft and gradually building sound of the rabbits’ humming doing nothing to alleviate it.

She heard one of the twins mutter something, the sound similar to a word they’d said on the Lunar Whale that she hadn’t been able to understand. If it was a curse, she figured she couldn’t blame them.

“I guess we get comfortable?” She tried to lift her voice a little, to sound more at ease than she really felt.

Fenrir sighed, shutting their eyes against the light of the room. Their brother said nothing, eyes narrowed in the direction Golbez had gone.


	7. Reaching an Accord

The quiet that had descended in the room after the twins left was too much for her to stand. Even the soft sound of the rabbits calling themselves the Hummingways doing nothing to ease the mix of nerves and disappointment in her chest. Kairi excused herself as politely as she could from one Hummingway’s company, trying not to be rude as she moved to leave. They were friendly, welcoming even, and had asked a few questions about her and her home before she’d been able to do the same.

She’d tried to answer honestly and toe the line Yen Sid had explained to her before - though it wouldn’t have surprised her if the Hummingways already thought other worlds might exist alongside their own. After all, the Lunarians had come from another planet themselves and supposedly the Hummingways had followed.

That notion circled the edges of her mind as she walked, a minor distraction that didn’t do much to alleviate the ache in her temples. The further she got from the center of the room the quieter it became - never totally silent as the cadence of humming gently rose and fell in time with the cluster of rabbit shaped merchants behind her. Her feet carried her back the way she’d come with the twins, more because she had nowhere else to go - the only other options being outside the Crystal Palace itself or to break Golbez’s rule and venture further into the mirrored halls beyond the light-bathed throne room.

Kairi felt comfortable admitting that she was curious, but not enough to break the one request Golbez had made just to satisfy it.

She stopped just before reaching the exit, finally lifting her eyes from the bright red carpet before her. The passage that led back into the short cavern was dark - the same too perfect blackness that had initially unnerved her after the Lunar Whale had touched down. It sent another cold shiver along her spine and she found herself looking away from it in the hopes that there might be something she’d missed in her amazement with the palace itself. To her surprise, there was.

To her left and right there were identical halls branching off from the path she stood, each taking a turn and leading somewhere else. The carpet didn’t cover the floor in either direction, leaving her reflection fully visible as it returned her inquisitive stare.

She wasn’t sure if she would ever really get used to that - seeing herself reflected from all around. It was eerie, just like the lack of noise in general was, coaxing her into putting her guard up. Unnecessarily, perhaps, since the palace was supposed to be safe - but still.

Picking a direction without really thinking, Kairi followed her feet and tried not to stare too hard at the crystalline tiles as her reflection copied her every move. Her shoes made soft scuffing noises over the tiles of the floor, a delicate sound emerging from the stone itself when she self-consciously tried to lighten her tread. In a way, it reminded her of a room in Yen Sid’s tower - one where the floor was a menagerie of differently colored glass. She hadn’t expected it to actually hold up her weight, or support her when she’d been training, but it had and the noise her steps had produced was similar.

The hall turned, sooner than she had thought it would, and she was left staring up another short path that opened up directly into a small room. It boasted the same look as the rest of the palace she’d seen so far, the only difference being the large clay drum in the center. When she peered into it her reflection stared back, faint ripples in the image’s surface suggesting that the contents were liquid.

Kairi sniffed curiously, unable to find any scent. It looked clear - pristine enough that she could see straight to the bottom of the drum itself. She studied her reflection for a second longer before stepping back, straightening up with a faint sigh. There wasn’t any sign of a cup or a ladle and she didn’t want to test her luck by sticking a hand in or worse, be like Tidus or Sora and plunge her face in.

The thought made her chuckle, the memories it stirred lifting her spirits a little.

Without any other plan on what to do she followed the hall back to where she’d come, ears once more picking up the sound of the Hummingways from the central room as she passed. It broke the monotony of the hall, until she turned the corner and saw a replica of what had been in the first side chamber. The drum even looked the same, she noticed, as did the contents when she peeked at them.

Her reflection stared back, shadowed and tired-looking. For a second she considered sticking her tongue out just for a chance of pace, her soft laughter at herself causing ripples to disrupt the liquid’s surface before she pulled back. Blue tinted stone and crystal met her gaze everywhere she turned, nothing at all standing out as she looked over the nearly seamless mirrors. Someone had to have taken a long time to build the palace, she supposed.

Why everything had to be mirrors, she didn’t know.

Kairi wished Fenrir or Alteci had said something, anything on when they might be back - or perhaps that they’d let her come along, even if it was just to scout out the surrounding area. It would have been interesting at least, she thought.

A glance around the small chamber got her thinking, tentatively, of the idea she’d entertained after the twins had left. It was large enough for her to move around with relative freedom - so long as she minded the drum in the center. The crystal beneath her feet didn’t mar easily, she’d discovered, and if the walls were made of the same substance then it would be sturdier than it looked.

There was enough distance between her and the Hummingways in the throne room that she could practice her magic so long as she was careful. It wouldn’t be near as dangerous as if she’d gone outside on her own and it didn’t break any rules that she knew of.

Kairi hesitated a moment, turning the idea over once more before making her decision.

There was nothing else to do for the time being. The Hummingways were more than kind but she didn’t think they would like it if she just stood around staring at them or the walls until the twins came back. That in mind, she settled her stance and reached out with her dominant hand, seeking that place in her mind that allowed her to summon her keyblade.

It came at the first pull - a flash of brilliant light and a swirl of pastel-colored petals, its weight comfortable and reassuring as she adjusted herself to balance it. Smiling to herself, Kairi closed her eyes - shutting out the many images of herself being reflected back from the walls and focused inward. There was an energy within herself, not unlike what she used to summon her weapon, that could be used as magic.

She reached for it, unconsciously furrowing her brow a little as she did. It felt warm as she called it up and it made her think of the light she’d felt from inside her keyblade - and her friend’s keyblades when they all practiced together.

The warmth resolved itself into a fire spell as she directed it, orange-red flames that flickered in her mind’s eye until she opened her eyes and swung Destiny’s Embrace in a quick, loose arc. A sphere of flame shot out from the end of her keyblade’s crest, crackling and hissing as it flew before it collided with the wall in a shower of sparks.

She hesitated, tensing up a little.

The crystal gleamed without blemish where her spell had landed, eerily perfect.

Kairi took it in stride, shifting her weight and focusing her next attempt before the thought could bother her. It helped if she recalled training with Yen Sid and Merlin, how every target they’d presented her with would reassemble itself with no harm once she’d had enough for the day - no matter what spell she’d thrown at it.

Ice and frost struck the opposite wall next, splintering with a loud _crack_ as it hit. She felt the lingering chill settle over the chamber as she moved, side-stepping the drum and lifting her keyblade high as she called for thunder. Something within her resisted at first, like it always did when she tried casting this spell. A moment after bolts of incandescent energy rained down, turning the air sharp with ozone and making her squint against the brilliance.

Her reflections copied her for every move, keeping pace when she tried exercising a few of the combos Riku had shown her. She no longer paid attention to them, her world of focus narrowing down to the space immediately around her and the rise and fall of Destiny’s Embrace as it followed her direction. She tried jumping once - slightly caught off-guard by the difference of gravity the Moon had from Yen Sid’s tower - and came down with a stumble, ruining her form and her focus.

In the back of her mouth, Kairi thought she could taste the tingle of her own magic. Something charged and wild - not like the cool efficiency of Riku’s spells or the burning intensity Lea had.

She had to blink as she straightened up, pushing her hair back and surprised to find it somewhat sweaty - her hand shaking lightly as she tucked a loose lock of red behind her ear. The air wasn’t cool anymore, or she’d warmed up enough to not be bothered by it.

A tickle over the skin of her neck made her turn, awareness that she was no longer alone coming sharp and sudden. Kairi thought that it might be one of the twins - returned from their excursion and curious as to where she’d gone. The person standing just outside the chamber wasn’t one of the twins or the Hummingways, though she found herself wishing that it might have been.

Somehow, in the narrow space of the hall Golbez managed to look even taller, larger, than he really was.

Kairi felt her breath catch as what her eyes were seeing finally clicked, fingers unconsciously tightening around the hilt of her keyblade as she stared back. Golbez made no move to enter the makeshift training area she’d picked, a quick glance around confirming that - much to her relief - none of the walls or floor had any sort of mark.

With nothing else to look at she forced herself to look back at him, swallowing back the dryness in her throat and wondering if it would be worth it or not to sip an ether to alleviate it.

“Sorry,” Kairi couldn’t help the word slipping out, feeling sheepish as she tried to meet Golbez’s eye. “I should have asked first - I didn’t mean to cause an alarm or anything.”

In her mind she could imagine Yen Sid’s arched eyebrow, disapproving and impressive - the image nearly superimposing itself over Golbez’s broad frame as she waited for him to respond.

“You didn’t.”

The sound of his voice startled her a little, drawing her back to the present. He didn’t comment on it, expression as stoic as it had been when they’d first met a little while ago.

“Oh.” Kairi heard herself say, sounding small and unsure to her own ears. “Would you prefer I train outside?”

Something passed over his face that she didn’t quite know how to interpret, his eyes going to her keyblade and staying there for a moment before returning to her face.

“That weapon draws the ones you call the Heartless to you, does it not?” He asked in a softer than she would have thought he'd use.

The change in topic surprised her but Kairi found herself nodding, letting her free hand return to its place by her hip. “It does. That’s what Master Yen Sid said, at least. I’m still learning.” She admitted it quietly, slowly relaxing her grip on Destiny’s Embrace. “The Heartless are drawn to the power of it, as well as the power in those who wield it - so we learn to defend ourselves. So we can fight them and drive back the Darkness.”

“Your world does not find darkness to be necessary?” Golbez asked, his brow seeming to furrow a bit. It might have been her imagination, but he sounded curious at that.

Kairi felt one corner of her mouth quirk a little, thinking that Riku might have been able to answer that question better. She shook her head, dispelling the thought. “It’s not that we think the darkness isn’t necessary just...” She frowned, at a loss for words for a moment.

“The Heartless travel to other worlds and slowly start to corrupt them and the people, starting with their hearts. When the world gets weakened enough it’s protection fades and they move in - stealing hearts as they go. If it gets bad enough, the world vanishes.” Kairi paused, gathering her thoughts. “Sometimes there are survivors - people whose hearts fight back against the darkness and are strong enough to make it. They can show up in other worlds but.. unless someone does something, their home is gone forever.”

Lifting her keyblade, Kairi nodded to it for emphasis. “That’s what we’re here for - what I’m training for. To stop the Heartless from spreading.”

“You intend to stop them by force?” Golbez’s tone didn’t give any sign that he was making fun of her - the opposite in fact, he seemed to be listening closely to every word.

“It’s one way.” Kairi admitted, thinking back on what Riku had told her about his time in the realm of darkness. Once more she shook her head, “But it’s not the only one.”

For a moment she hesitated, unsure how much further to elaborate. Golbez didn’t push, merely continued to watch her as she weighed Yen Sid’s instructions against what she wanted to say. On one hand, Golbez already knew of other worlds - and he didn’t seem like the sort of person to use the knowledge for the wrong reasons. On the other hand, however, they had only just met.

But, she reasoned, she had to trust someone. Fenrir and Alteci had seemed willing to put their faith in him enough to ask for help, which had to count for something.

Kairi inhaled slowly, gathering up her courage before she spoke. “Keybearers, people like me, look for the Keyhole of a world. It’s a path that leads to the world’s heart and the power inside. We seal it when we find it, which protects a world from falling into darkness and disappearing. Sometimes it can be done to restore a world to its previous state, if it already has fallen to the Heartless.”

Sora had proven that. Riku too.

“And you do not think this is too much power for one person to wield?” Golbez asked softly, pinning her with his question as well as his eyes. The look he was giving her was serious, intimidatingly so, but he didn’t seem to be angry.

“I..” Kairi bit her lip, expression shuttering as she considered it.

He wasn’t wrong, she thought. Xehanort had been a keyblade wielder - still was, in a sense. It was a little hard to follow - how many times he'd split himself into fragments, how many people he'd hurt and corrupted. But the truth remained the same - the keyblade was a dangerous tool if used for the wrong purposes, if the one who used it wanted to bring chaos and destruction to the worlds.

An answer glimmered in her mind, hers and yet not hers at the same time - almost like she had heard someone else say it once and never forgotten it.

“Maybe it is.” Looking up, Kairi met his stare as evenly as she could. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone had used it hurt someone, but that doesn’t mean that my friends or I would. That’s why I’m training, so I can help them. Help people that have lost their homes to darkness.”

_So I won’t be left behind again_ , she didn’t say.

The thought of it - waiting for something to change, to happen with or without her - made her fingers curl a little tighter around her keyblade.

For a moment, strange and gone too quick for her to be sure, Kairi suspected Golbez had heard what she’d been thinking. It passed though, leaving her wondering if it was just the uneasiness in her mind with the whole situation making her think weird things.

For the time being he seemed to accept her explanation at least, much to her relief.

“Who was it that trained you in magic?” He asked, catching her off-guard again.

Kairi wondered if the change in topic was deliberate, but the curiosity in his tone seemed genuine enough. A small smile touched her face as she answered, a note of pride creeping into her voice. “My master, Yen Sid. He’s a sorcerer from a different world, but he used to be a Keyblade Master too.”

Understanding, or something close enough to it, passed over Golbez’s face and he inclined his head just once. “It is different from the magic I learned. Perhaps that is the cause.”

“Different?” Kairi asked, openly curious. Her grip on her keyblade loosened a little, flowered crest nearly brushing the crystal floor.

Golbez seemed to debate with himself on whether to answer or not, folding powerful looking arms over his broad chest. When he finally spoke Kairi caught a familiar tone in his deep voice - something bordering on instruction, but without the preaching quality some teachers possessed.

“The arts I received training in taught me to harness the power of the elements. Spells you know - fire, ice and thunder.” Kairi nodded despite herself, watching him as he continued. “The method used was different, however. You channel your power from within to your weapon, where it takes form and strikes out. I cast with my hands.”

He said it simply, without boasting. At her surprised _“really?”_ he even raised one large hand and murmured something - words she couldn’t quite catch, a ball of fire flickering into existence just above his palm.

It wasn’t a perfect sphere like the ones Yen Sid encouraged her to summon for ranged attacks - but it hovered a few inches above Golbez’s skin with an ease and control that she envied nonetheless.

Kairi thought that he might be right, that there was a difference in their forms of magic but she wasn’t sure how to put it into words exactly.

Even so, she grinned. “That’s amazing. I thought Riku might have been the only one to cast magic like that.”

Golbez closed his hand into a loose fist, dispelling the flame and folded his arm back into its previous place. He didn’t ask who Riku was, but there was a curious look in his eyes.

“My friend.” Kairi elaborated, smile softening as she said it. “We’ve been close since childhood on the islands we come from. He’s a Keyblade Master now - he trains me and Lea whenever he’s not busy.”

An incline of his head was his only response, the movement somehow more courteous than if one of her friends might have done it.

“How far in your training have you come?” He asked, serious once more.

Kairi frowned at that, finding that she liked admitting it even less than thinking about it. “Six months, officially. I know a few second tier spells, but that’s really it. Everyone else is farther ahead than I am.” She tried to keep how she felt about it out of her voice, but something crept through if the tilt of Golbez’s head was anything to go by.

“Does your master know that you are here?”

She tried not to laugh at that, feeling her face warm up a little as she bit her lip to keep from chuckling. The question wasn’t one she’d been expecting - but Golbez was looking at her with complete seriousness and... perhaps he wasn’t too far off for asking.

“I volunteered to come.” Kairi shifted her weight, lifting her chin a little. “My friends were busy with important jobs already given to them, so I stepped up.”

She watched him nod at that, as though that was something he had expected despite this being their first real conversation.

Before she could say anything, the rumble of his voice filled the hall. Softer than she’d originally thought it would be, when she’d first seen him, but commanding attention all the same.

“It remains to be seen whether Fusoya or I will be able to accompany you to the Lair of the Father.” He paused, something almost rueful crossing his otherwise calm expression. “I do not know if you will find a Keyhole here. It is possible that Fusoya may be able to tell you more. Or that Bahamut himself knows. If the latter proves to be the case, you will need to be prepared.”

Kairi nodded at that, unsure of what to think of the person the twins referred to as their master.

“Would we really have to fight him? Bahamut, I mean.” She asked, not liking the idea any more than she did previously.

The shrug of Golbez’s broad shoulders was subtle, but there. His silver-white hair swayed a little as he shook his head. “I am not certain, in this case. Those who seek the Hallowed Father’s strength must fight the Behemoths first before they might face him for it. Only one has ever succeeded.”

“Really?” Kairi felt her eyes go a little round at that. “But he can’t fight the Heartless forever, can he?”

“It is not my place to say.” Golbez answered. “Bahamut has inhabited the Red Moon as long has the Lunarians have. He is the Father of the beings called Eidolons on the Blue Planet, worshiped and feared in equal measure. Whether the Heartless could take his heart or not, it would not be an easy battle.”

Kairi nodded, for lack of a better response. Before she could second-guess herself she asked, “What’s an Eidolon?”

Golbez’s expression shifted a little, a hint of surprise showing through before it was smoothed away.

“A being humans have referred to as a monster on the Blue Planet, though that is not all that they are. Eidolons are creatures of extraordinary strength - either a master of a particular element of magic or a variety of them. They live within the Feymarch, separate from other species such as humans or dwarves. Only a summoner, trained in the art of calling them to the surface, may call upon an Eidolon - after they have faced it in battle and proven themselves worthy.”

He must have seen her surprise because his expression softened somewhat around the edges. Kairi almost didn’t notice, too caught up in absorbing the new information.

“Bahamut’s their father, you said?” She asked, a little overwhelmed.

He nodded. “The oldest and strongest of them all. Nearly a god, if the comparison helps you to understand. A few peoples of the Blue Planet worship him as such, for what it is worth.”

Kairi didn’t know how to take that, uneasiness returning almost full force as she attempted to process it. There wasn’t much for a point of reference in her mind - the summons Sora had described to her didn’t sound much like the Eidolons at all, let alone Bahamut. To her knowledge he hadn’t had to fight them either. They were people he’d met along the way, ones who had decided to help in a different manner from others he’d encountered - lending out a portion of their power to do so.

Maybe, she thought, maybe it was like that. Just with a different sort of agreement to be met - a test of skill rather than a friendship and concern formed from fighting alongside one another.

“Do you think you could teach me anything?” She asked, tilting her head as she looked up at him. “From the way you explained it - I think I understand a little - we’ll have our work cut out for us. If you or Fusoya can’t help directly, is there another way you might be able to?”

Golbez remained silent for a long moment as he thought, looking beyond her to something else. Kairi waited, listening to the quiet of the palace as she did. The tang of magic had faded from the air at last, warmth she’d worked up from practice now gone and she could feel the chill again. How he couldn’t, she wasn’t sure, but it didn’t seem appropriate to ask.

After all, he lived within the palace so there was a very good chance he was just used to it.

“I can teach you magic at the very least.” He said, drawing her attention back to him. A sternness had settled in his eyes and face, making her unconsciously stand a little straighter. “I may also be able to teach you to better use your weapon as a sword, so that you may proceed with a little more experience.”

She smiled, unable to help it at the thought of learning something new. “I’d really appreciate it.”

He didn’t say anything in response for a moment, looking past her once again. When he spoke he did so slowly, as though testing the words.

“There are spells you will need to know which I cannot teach you. My knowledge of healing magic has long since been forgotten.” His eyes focused on her then, clear and patient. “If Fusoya is able and willing, would you accept his tutelage?”

Kairi nodded, perhaps a little too quickly. Her hair bobbed in its tail as she did, tickling her neck. “I would. Anything at all would be a great help, especially if things really do get bad.”

“Fair enough.” He said. She thought it might have been her imagination, but he almost looked amused for a second in the wake of her enthusiasm. “I shall ask him when he wakes.”

“Thank you.” Dismissing her keyblade Kairi flexed her hands, pushing back the urge to wince as she finally stretched them out. It was a motion Golbez didn’t fail to catch, his gaze dropping to her hands for a brief second before going back to her face.

He nodded to the drum behind her, lifting his voice just enough to be heard. “The water inside there will restore your energy, if you need it. There is another in the first room to the left of the door. It will heal you if you suffer injury.”

She thanked him again, surprised and a little relieved that she wouldn’t have to tap into her potions or ethers again so soon. He nodded once more before turning, lowering his arms as he did, and slowly walking back the way he’d came. Where to, she could only guess, but she pushed it aside for now.

The liquid inside the drum felt no different from water when she hesitantly scooped some out, seeing no other method of doing so. It tasted slightly sweet when she dipped her head to drink what she’d gathered in her palms, relieving the dryness in her mouth and throat almost instantly. A tingle went through her as she swallowed, the sensation leaving her feeling a little lighter than before - faster even. Like she’d slept for a little bit and gotten her second wind.

Kairi didn’t bother to stop the grin from spreading over her face, wishing she could take some of the stuff back and have her friends try it. Perhaps, once things were settled and she asked, Golbez or Fusoya would let her.


	8. Plans

Golbez paused as he entered the room, looking past the assembled crystals and sleeping pods to where his uncle sat in both meditation and rest. Light from the spaces beneath the crystals stripped a little more color from Fusoya's skin, turned silvery hair to a near pure white. He moved past the sleeping Lunarians in their pods, steps slow and sure as he closed the distance between the sage and himself.

He wasn't fooled by Fusoya's closed eyes. The man had an air of alertness around him - the fact that he had woken at some point and left the sleeping pod on his own surprising, given his recent condition. Golbez stopped just out of arm's reach and waited.

Fusoya opened his eyes after a moment, looking no less weary than when his nephew had seen him last. Even so, his stare was sharp and thoughtful as one long hand emerged from one of his robe's sleeves to stroke his beard.

"You have spoken with our guests, I take it?"

Golbez nodded, arms folding comfortably across his chest. "Bahamut's attendants ask that we lend our strength in clearing a path back to their master. It is their belief that he was their original target."

The light in his uncle's eyes darkened a little, but Fusoya did not turn his head to look at the sealed space at the center of the room. "Then their interest in us is secondary. It is still troubling, nonetheless. And our young guest," the sage lowered his hand, "what of them?"

"She wields a weapon that draws the attention of these creatures." Golbez said softly. "A keyblade, she called it. There are others, apparently, including the one who was training her. She opted to accompany the two back here and provide assistance against the enemy. She seems familiar with these... Heartless."

The word felt strange to say, rolling off the tongue with an ominous kind of sound. He could see that Fusoya liked it even less and did not hide his surprise that the older man might have heard of them.

"Darkness comes again, it would seem." Fusoya's hand disappeared into his sleeve as he folded it with its twin. "No doubt it does not seek just the heart of the Hallowed Father now that it knows there are others who share similar strength."

"You know these beings?" Golbez could not help but ask.

His uncle's forehead wrinkled a little as the man frowned, sitting straight despite fatigue and age. 

"Tales of them, at least. This is the first time that I have ever set eyes upon them." Fusoya's gaze went past his nephew, thoughtful. "There were worlds we thought might allow hospitality between our people and the native inhabitants before we came to the Blue Planet. Some were afflicted with creatures that sought the power of those that were strong - monsters that would not be driven back by most weapons."

"I believe," the sage continued, "that it is possible one or two might have fallen to those creatures. It has been a very long time since I have thought of it. There was a rumor that a weapon had been made which could battle the creatures of darkness - but I know not if those and the Heartless she speaks of are the same."

"Her name is Kairi." Golbez offered slowly. "She would be close to Ceodore's age, I think."

Fusoya's expression shuttered at that but did not fall. "I see. Young indeed to journey out so far. To wield such a weapon." He studied his nephew for a moment. "And what do you make of her?"

"Young." Golbez answered tiredly. "Lacking in experience, yet eager to assist. She possesses some skill in magic, but not enough. Not if her path will take her towards these creatures. To Bahamut."

He paused, weighing the words carefully before speaking. "She asked me to instruct her in magic if we cannot accompany her and her fellows to the Hallowed Father."

Fusoya's gaze lacked judgment, though he looked curious. "A thoughtful solution. One that you are uncertain of, I take it?"

"I have never tutored someone in magic." Golbez lowered his eyes, voice soft. "Let alone one who has learned from a different teacher. There is a foreignness to the magic she uses that I am cautious of. And.." He hesitated, mouth turning down at the corners.

The old sage waited, listening carefully to what his nephew didn't say.

"I am unskilled in healing magic." Golbez finished at last, looking back at his uncle. "There are spells you know that would provide better defense against what waits in the Hallowed Father's home than the teachings I could provide."

"I cannot claim to be versed in how to wield a blade." Fusoya said kindly, smiling when his nephew looked up at that. "If the young lady seeks to further her magic, then I shall be honored to provide what assistance I can. Perhaps she may benefit from your knowledge in an area I possess no insight for."

"...Thank you." Golbez smiled faintly as he said it, looking faintly relieved.

Fusoya only smiled back, settling back into his seat. "Where is the young lady?"

"The entrance hall. Bahamut's attendants left some time ago to scout the way." Wry amusement crossed Golbez's features. "They are unhappy with the answer I gave them."

"They must wait a little longer." Fusoya closed his eyes slowly, something close to a sigh leaving him. "A little more rest and perhaps then I can leave this place."

Golbez shook his head. "I would prefer not to risk your health."

"We shall see." The sage said quietly.

"Is there a chance," Golbez hesitated, watching Fusoya's eyes flutter open wearily with a twinge of guilt. "Is there a possibility that these creatures might seek the Blue Planet as well?"

Fusoya stayed quiet for a long moment, what expression could be deciphered around his beard faintly troubled.

"I do not know." He said at last, gaze sliding past his nephew to something Golbez couldn't see. "If these Heartless seek strength and power where darkness has touched before, then it could be possible. We are not the only ones who bear scars from another's hate."

Unlike his uncle, Golbez did glance towards the sealed passage that had once led to the captive Zemus. His face hardened after a moment, then he looked away.

"Rest." He told his uncle, not missing the quirk of an impressively bushy brow that told him the elder thought he ought to do the same. Nonetheless, Fusoya closed his eyes once again.

 

Kairi started awake when a hand touched her cheek, surprising herself and the person who slowly drew back. She blinked, rubbing at her eyes with a hand as she tried to remember where she was. Fenrir watched her with a look that bordered on amused as he straightened up.

"That doesn't look particularly comfortable. Can all humans sleep so irregularly?" He tipped his head to the side, watching her unfold from the wall with a faint wince.

"It's not the worst place I've ever slept." Kairi answered, holding back a yawn. She looked around for Alteci, relief crossing her face with she spotted them. A Hummingway stood at the Behemoth's feet, ears slowly turning this way and that as it listened to what Fenrir's sibling had to say.

Tearing her eyes away from them so that she wouldn't be caught staring, Kairi pushed herself up with a soft grunt. "I didn't know when the two of you would be back. Was everything..." She hesitated to say _alright_ , knowing that with the Heartless around very little could be considered _safe_ or remotely _alright_.

Fenrir didn't seem to mind her trailing off. "It was no worse than what we encountered on the way here."

"Good." Kairi let out a breath of relief, tying her hair back once again. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

Brief irritation crossed Fenrir's face before it was smoothed away. "There are signs of creatures native to the Red Moon putting distance between this place and themselves. We could not find any strays from Hummingway's group."

Kairi glanced at the Hummingway Alteci had been speaking to. Its ears had slumped considerably, hanging low over the merchant's face. It said something that she couldn't hear and Alteci shook their head.

"My sister is better with words than I am." Fenrir's voice brought Kairi's attention back to him, golden eyes studying her. "There is, of course, a chance that the stragglers survived and are in hiding. We did not go far from the path and there are many caves that could offer shelter."

"I could help." Kairi stood a little straighter. "If you go out again I can go with you and that will give us - "

"It is not something we should immediately be concerned with." Fenrir's tone sharpened for a moment. "More than half the village is here, thanks to FuSoYa and Golbez. The little one who called himself leader said so."

Kairi squared her shoulders. "But the others could be out there! If we can help them then we should!"

"We cannot afford to traverse the entire Moon, Kairi." Alteci's cool voice interjected. When she turned to look at her Alteci showed no sign of being overly worried at all. "Our master's well being is paramount. That is why we are here. If FuSoYa and his kin could not save the rest then there is little chance that we could."

"That's not right." Kairi argued, hands curling at her sides. Neither twin showed signs of remorse when she looked between them.

"We have no business with the Hummingways." Fenrir told her. "Their leader asked and we looked as far as we might without endangering our goal."

Alteci picked up where her brother left off. "You said the Heartless leave no trace of those they overtake. Even if we did look farther afield there is no certainty we would find anything of them."

" _I'll_ look." Kairi countered, anger sharpening her words. "If you won't then - "

"You'll wander the Moon alone and without direction, taking on all that you see?" Fenrir cut her off. She glared at him, but it had no visible effect. His placidly blank look was mirrored on his sibling's face.

"You are kind, Kairi." Alteci held her gaze, pinning her with measured words. "The Hummingways would no doubt appreciate your attempt. It would be a fool's errand and we cannot afford to lose you to it."

Kairi felt her shoulders stiffen, emotions knotting inside her chest. "We could still go together. I asked Golbez if he'd train me in magic so that I'd be stronger but it can wait until we find the Hummingways. With all three of us, we should be alright." She looked between them again, taking note of the surprise on both their faces.

They looked at one another for a moment, communicating something without words until they slowly turned their eyes back to her. Kairi waited, tense enough that her shoulders ached.

"If he is willing.." Fenrir began, sounding as though he couldn't quite believe it.

Alteci spoke up for him, frowning thoughtfully. "Then it is more important for you to stay here and learn all that you can. _We_ will look again tomorrow."

"You mean it?" Kairi asked, loosening her fists. She glanced between them hopefully, pushing aside her remaining anger. "You'll look?"

"Yes." They said in tandem, firmly enough that Kairi didn't think she had to question them.

"Thank you." Kairi smiled, slow and relieved.

Alteci waved her words aside. "It is late. Before anything else we should rest. The Hummingway leader has a tent that you may use, if you feel comfortable doing so."

"It will be more comfortable than the wall." Fenrir remarked.

Kairi paused, glancing at the Hummingway she thought Alteci had spoken with. Part of her still buzzed with unsettled energy, angry at the twins for wanting to leave any missing members of the rabbit's group behind. The more rational part of her agreed that she'd need better sleep than a nap against a wall of mirrors, especially if Golbez meant what he'd said.

She didn't think he would lie. Not about helping them if he could, at least.

"Alright." She said at last, letting the tension go out of her shoulders. "You two should probably get some sleep too, you know."

Fenrir made a sound in the back of his throat that didn't sound quite like an agreement, but he led the way over to the merchant his sibling had spoken to without complaint.


End file.
